Here Are 7 Reasons Why Elephant's Social Lives Are More Complicated Than Yours

• 01

  They Can Keep In Touch Over Long Distances

  
  via Ranker

  While humans have the luxury of texting or calling each other on the phone, elephants have developed a natural mechanism of communicating over long distances - without the help of technology. There are a number of ways that elephants communicate with each other, including trumpeting, roaring, and low rumbles. These different sounds have different meanings, and nearly 70 unique messages have been documented. Some of these messages can be heard in a range of 110 square miles. These long range calls are actually made up of infrasound, a low frequency sound that is inaudible to the human ear. They even know at what times their sound will travel farthest, often waiting until dusk or dawn when the air is coolest. Lower temperatures allow sound to travel further, and the remarkable animals have figured out how to use that to their advantage.

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• 02

  In Elephant Society, The Women Are In Charge

  
  via Ranker

  Elephant society is dominated by the females, who travel together in close-knit family units. Males leave at puberty, so families only consist of females and children. They are led by a matriarch, most often the oldest member of the family, who is responsible for many decisions within the group. She decides where and when to find feed, as well as which other elephant families to stay in contact with.

• 03

  Elephants Babies Love And Need Their Grandmas

  
  via Ranker

  Elephants can live about as long as humans, with some growing up to be over 70 years old in the wild. This means elephants can live to see multiple generations born, and grandmothers take an active role in the upbringing of their grandchildren. Researchers from Finland set out to study the role grandmothers in Asian elephants and made some fascinating discoveries. Baby elephants who lived with their grandmothers experienced eight times the survival rate of those who did not. On top of that, the more calves a grandmother has herself, the more capable she is of raising her grandchildren. Basically, practice makes perfect and the more babies an elephant has, the better she will be with her grandchildren. 

• 04

  Bachelor Males Sometimes Join Fraternity-Like Gangs

  
  via Ranker

  Bull males are known for spouts of intense aggression, possibly one of the reasons it seems males are driven out of family units when they hit puberty. But this could be a misconception. A cycle of male sexual aggression, known as musth, has led some to believe that elephant bulls are antisocial in general, and they spend most of their lives in solitude.  Research in the past few years has challenged these assumptions, stating that not all bachelors go it alone after they separate from their mot

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• 05

  They Respectfully Mourn The Dead

  
  via Ranker

  It is unsure if elephants can truly comprehend the concept of mortality, but there is some evidence to suggest elephants can feel significant grief at the loss of a life. It is rare for elephants to ignore the corpse of one of their own and they are even known to stop and contemplate human remains, but won't stop for anything else. When a family comes across a deceased elephant, they will gather around and gently caress and examine the corpse with their trunks. They mourn in silence, seldom vocalizing during this process. On occasion elephants will cover the corpse with leaves or dirt.

• 06

  An Elephant Can Be An Introvert Or An Extrovert

  
  via Ranker

  Like humans, individual elephants are extremely complicated. Elephants have the most developed temporal lobes of any land animals besides humans. The temporal lobe is a section of the brain responsible for many things, including processing and storing information. This gives further credence to the idea that an elephant never forgets. The similarities to humans doesn't stop there, however. Elephants personalities vary wildly from individual to individual, meaning elephants can be introverts or extroverts. Some can be painfully shy, while others extremely social. As it turns out, some elephants can even be downright jerks, further evidence that we're not so different.

• 07

  They Comfort Stressed Out Friends

  
  via Ranker

  Elephants are known for being one of the most empathetic creatures alive, and researchers have shown that elephants are very attuned to each others emotions. When an elephant gets stressed out, they exhibit certain behaviors such as trumpeting, spontaneous defecation, and an intense flaring of the ears. When these symptoms emerge, nearby elephants will rush to their aid and begin comforting the stressed companion. They will often pat the stressed elephant with their trunk, especially around the mouth and genitals, to reassure them that everything is okay. In extreme cases, multiple elephants will gather and creative a protective circle around the distressed elephant.

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