☆ 4.8 Letter

Elephant banana peeling

CURRENT BIOLOGY (2023)

Trigeminal ganglion and sensory nerves suggest tactile specialization of elephants

Leopold Purkart et al.

Summary: Elephants have highly specialized sensory nerves, with their trigeminal ganglion being one of the largest known primary sensory structures.

CURRENT BIOLOGY (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Multidisciplinary Sciences

Elephant facial motor control

Lena Kaufmann et al.

Summary: This study investigated facial motor control in elephants and found that they have a greater number of facial nucleus neurons compared to other land-living mammals. African elephants, in particular, have more medial facial subnucleus neurons than Asian elephants, indicating a more extensive ear-motor control. The organization of the elephant's facial subnuclei is related to trunk representation, with large distal neurons innervating the trunk tip with long axons. African elephants use two trunk tip fingers to pinch objects, while Asian elephants grasp/wrap objects with larger parts of their trunk. The neuronal adaptations in elephant brains reflect their facial morphology, body size, and dexterity.

SCIENCE ADVANCES (2022)

添加到收藏夹

Article Biochemistry & Molecular Biology