Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:43:04.456Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Exploring the Social Minds of Elephants

from Part III - Social Cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Elizabeth A. Krisch Pirutinsky  and
Joshua M. Plotnik
Edited by
Allison B. Kaufman ,
Josep Call  and
James C. Kaufman
Allison B. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Josep Call
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access

Summary

The study of convergent cognitive evolution aims to understand how similarities in physical and social intelligence emerge in evolutionarily distant species. This field, which is relatively new, has focused on a number of taxa, including nonhuman primates, corvids, and other birds, cetaceans, canids, and elephants. In this chapter, we highlight the social minds of elephants in particular, with a review of existing observational and experimental research. Investigations of the proximate mechanisms that underlie social behavior require an understanding of how an animal "sees," "hears," "touches,"and "smells" its world. Thus, we emphasize the need to take elephants’ sensory perspective into account when investigating their cognition, especially considering their exceptional olfactory and acoustic senses. We briefly review the literature on elephant social cognition, and discuss the relevance of such research to elephant conservation.

Keywords

elephantssocial cognitioncooperationintelligencesensory systemssustainabilityhuman-elephant conflict
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition , pp. 362 - 382
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Archie, E. A., Moss, C. J., & Alberts, S. C. (2006). The ties that bind: Genetic relatedness predicts the fission and fusion of social groups in wild African elephants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1586), 513–522. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3361CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archie, E. A., Hollister-Smith, J. A., Poole, J. A., Lee, P. C., Moss, C. J., Maldonado, J. E., … Alberts, S. C. (2007). Behavioural inbreeding avoidance in wild African elephants. Molecular Ecology, 16(19), 4138–4148. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03483.xGoogle Scholar
Arvidsson, J., Amundin, M., & Laska, M. (2012). Successful acquisition of an olfactory discrimination test by Asian elephants, Elephas maximus. Physiology & Behavior, 105(3), 809–814. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2011.08.021CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bagley, K. R., Goodwin, T. E., Rasmussen, L. E. L., & Schulte, B. A. (2006). Male African elephants, Loxodonta africana, can distinguish oestrous status via urinary signals. Animal Behaviour, 71(6), 1439–1445. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.01.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, L. A., Sayialel, K. N., Njiraini, N. W., Moss, C. J., Poole, J. H., & Byrne, R. W. (2007). Elephants classify human ethnic groups by odor and garment color. Current Biology, 17(22), 1938–1942. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.09.060CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, L. A., Lee, P. C., Njiraini, N., Poole, J. H., Sayialel, K., Sayialel, S., Moss, C. J., & Byrne, R. W. (2008a). Do elephants show empathy? Journal of Consciousness Studies, 15(10–11), 204–225.Google Scholar
Bates, L. A., Sayialel, K. N., Njiraini, N. W., Poole, J. H., Moss, C. J., & Byrne, R. W. (2008b). African elephants have expectations about the locations of out-of-sight family members. Biology Letters, 4(1), 34–36. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0529CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beaune, D., Fruth, B., Bollache, L., Hohmann, G., & Bretagnolle, F. (2013). Doom of the elephant-dependent trees in a Congo tropical forest. Forest Ecology and Management, 295, 109–117. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2012.12.041CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouley, D. M., Alarcón, C. N., Hildebrandt, T., & O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E. (2007). The distribution, density and three-dimensional histomorphology of Pacinian corpuscles in the foot of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and their potential role in seismic communication. Journal of Anatomy, 211(4) 428–435. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00792.x.Google Scholar
Brosnan, S. F., Salwiczek, L., & Bshary, R. (2010). The interplay of cognition and cooperation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 365(1553), 2699–2710. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0154Google Scholar
Brown, J. L. (1983). Cooperation: A biologist’s dilemma. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 13, 1–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunney, K., Bond, W. J., & Henley, M. (2017). Seed dispersal kernel of the largest surviving megaherbivore – the African savanna elephant. Biotropica, 49(3), 395–401. doi: 10.1111/btp.12423Google Scholar
Buss, I. O. (1961). Some observations on food habits and behavior of the African elephant. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 25(2), 131–148. doi: 10.2307/3798671Google Scholar
Byrne, R. W. (1997). The Technical Intelligence Hypothesis: An Additional Evolutionary Stimulus to Intelligence? In Whiten, A. & Byrne, R. W. (Eds.), Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations (pp. 289–311). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne, R. W., Bates, L. A., & Moss, C. J. (2009). Elephant cognition in primate perspective. Comparative Cognition and Behavior Reviews, 4, 65–69. doi: 10.3819/ccbr.2009.40009Google Scholar
Chiyo, P. I., Archie, E. A., Hollister-Smith, J. A., Lee, P. C., Poole, J. H., Moss, C. J., & Alberts, S. C. (2011). Association patterns of African elephants in all-male groups: The role of age and genetic relatedness. Animal Behaviour, 81(6), 1093–1099. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.02.013Google Scholar
Douglas-Hamilton, I. & Douglas-Hamilton, O. (1975). Among the Elephants. New York: Viking Press.Google Scholar
Douglas-Hamilton, I., Bhalla, S., Wittemyer, G., & Vollrath, F. (2006). Behavioural reactions of elephants towards a dying and deceased matriarch. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 100(1–2), 87–102. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2006.04.014Google Scholar
Dublin, H. T. (1983). Cooperation and Reproductive Competition among Female African Elephants. In Wasser, S. K. (Ed.), Social Behavior of Female Vertebrates (pp. 291–313). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, J. F., McKay, G. M., & Jainudeen, M. R. (1971). Reproductive behavior of the Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus maximus L.). Behaviour, 38(3), 193–224. doi: 10.1163/156853971X00087.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, K. E. & Harris, S. (2008). Adolescence in male African elephants, Loxodonta africana, and the importance of sociality. Animal Behaviour, 76(3), 779–787. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.03.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagan, W. F., Lewis, M. A., Auger-Methe, M., Avgar, T., Benhamou, S., Breed, G., … Mueller, T. (2013). Spatial memory and animal movement. Ecology Letters, 16(10), 1316–1329. doi: 10.1111/ele.12165Google Scholar
Foerder, P., Galloway, M., Barthel, T., Moore, D. E., & Reiss, D. (2011). Insightful problem solving in an Asian elephant. PLoS One, 6(8). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foley, C., Pettorelli, N., & Foley, L. (2008). Severe drought and calf survival in elephants. Biology Letters, 4(5), 541–544. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0370CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freeman, E. W., Schulte, B. A., & Brown, J. L. (2010). Using behavioral observations and keeper questionnaires to assess social relationships among captive female African elephants. Zoo Biology, 29(2), 140–153. doi: 10.1002/zoo.20249CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gadgil, M. & Nair, P. V. (1984). Observations on the social behaviour of free ranging groups of tame Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus Linn). Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science (Animal Science), 93, 225–233. doi: 10.1007/BF03186282.Google Scholar
Gallup, G. G. (1970). Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science, 167(3914), 86–87. doi: 10.1126/science.167.3914.86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallup, G. G. (1982). Self-awareness and the emergence of mind in primates. American Journal of Primatology, 2(3), 237–248. doi: 10.1002/ajp.1350020302Google Scholar
Gallup, G. G. (1983). Toward a Comparative Psychology of Mind. In Mellgren, R. L. (Ed.), Animal Cognition and Behavior (pp. 473–510). New York: North-Holland.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldenberg, S. Z., Douglas-Hamilton, I., & Wittemyer, G. (2016). Vertical transmission of social roles drives resilience to poaching in elephant networks. Current Biology, 26(1), 75–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.005Google Scholar
Goodyear, S. E. & Schulte, B. A. (2015). Habituation to auditory stimuli by captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana). Animal Behavior and Cognition, 2(4), 292–312. doi: 10.12966/abc.11.01.2015Google Scholar
Greco, B. J., Brown, T. K., Andrews, J. R., Swaisgood, R. R., & Caine, N. G. (2013). Social learning in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana africana). Animal Cognition, 16(3), 459–469.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behaviour. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7(1), 1–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, B. (2001). Can competitive paradigms increase the validity of experiments on primate social cognition? Animal Cognition, 4, 269–280. doi: 10.1007/s100710100084CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, B., Call, J., Agnetta, B., & Tomasello, M. (2000). Chimpanzees know what conspecifics do and do not see. Animal Behaviour, 59(4), 771–785. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1999.1377Google Scholar
Hare, B., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2001). Do chimpanzees know what conspecifics know? Animal Behaviour, 61(1), 139–151. doi: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1518CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hare, B. & Tomasello, M. (2004). Chimpanzees are more skilful in competitive than in cooperative cognitive tasks. Animal Behaviour, 68(3), 571–581. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.11.011Google Scholar
Hare, B., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2006). Chimpanzees deceive a human competitor by hiding. Cognition, 101(3), 495–514. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2005.01.011Google Scholar
Harich, F. K., Treydte, A. C., Ogutu, J. O., Roberts, J. E., Savini, C., Bauer, J. M., & Savini, T. (2016). Seed dispersal potential of Asian elephants. Acta Oecologica, 77, 144–151. doi: 10.1016/j.actao.2016.10.005Google Scholar
Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., McCoy, M., & Sarath, C. R. (2001). Cognitive behaviour in Asian elephants: Use and modification of branches for fly switching. Animal Behaviour, 62(5), 839–847. doi: 10.1006/anbe.2001.1815CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, B. L., Hart, L. A., & Pinter-Wollman, N. (2008). Large brains and cognition: Where do elephants fit in? Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 86–98. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2007.05.012Google Scholar
Hedges, S., Tyson, M. J., Sitompul, A. F., Kinnaird, M. F., Gunaryadi, D., & Aslan, . (2005). Distribution, status, and conservation needs of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Lampung province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Biological Conservation, 124(1), 35–48. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2005.01.004Google Scholar
Hoare, R. E. (1999). Determinants of human–elephant conflict in a land-use mosaic. Journal of Applied Ecology, 36(5), 689–700. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2664.1999.00437.xGoogle Scholar
Hollister-Smith, J. A., Alberts, S. C., & Rasmussen, L. E. L. (2008). Do male African elephants, Loxodonta africana, signal musth via urine dribbling? Animal Behaviour, 76(6), 1829–1841. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.05.033Google Scholar
Humphrey, N. K. (1976). The Social Function of Intellect. In Bateson, P. P. G. & Hinde, R. A. (Eds.), Growing Points in Ethology (pp. 303–317). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Irie, N., Hiraiwa‑Hasegawa, M., & Kutsukake, N. (2018). Unique numerical competence of Asian elephants on the relative numerosity judgment task. Journal of Ethology, 37, 111–115. doi: 10.1007/s10164-018-0563-yGoogle Scholar
Irie-Sugimoto, N., Kobayashi, T., Sato, T., & Hasegawa, T. (2008). Evidence of means–end behavior in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Animal Cognition, 11(2), 359–365. doi: 10.1007/s10071-007-0126-zGoogle Scholar
Irie-Sugimoto, N., Kobayashi, T., Sato, T., & Hasegawa, T. (2009). Relative quantity judgment by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Animal Cognition, 12(1), 193–199. doi: 10.1007/s10071-008-0185-9Google Scholar
Ishengoma, D. R. S., Shedlock, A. M., Foley, C. A. H., Foley, L. J., Wasser, S. K., Balthazary, S. T., & Mutayoba, B. M. (2008). Effects of poaching on bull mating success in a free ranging African elephant (Loxodonta africana) population in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. Conservation Genetics, 9(2), 247–255. doi: 10.1007/s10592-007-9332-0Google Scholar
Jacobs, B., Lubs, J., Hannan, M., Anderson, K., Butti, C., Sherwood, C. C., … Manger, P. R. (2011). Neuronal morphology in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) neocortex. Brain Structure and Function, 215(3–4), 273–298. doi: 10.1007/s00429-010-0288Google Scholar
Jainudeen, M. R., McKay, G. M., & Eisenberg, J. F. (1972). Observations on musth in domesticated Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus). Mammalia, 36(2), 247–261. doi: 10.1515/mamm.1972.36.2.247CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerison, H. J. (1973). Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ketchaisri, O., Siripunkaw, C., & Plotnik, J. (2019). The use of a human’s location and social cues by Asian elephants in an object-choice task. Animal Cognition, 22(6), 907–915.Google Scholar
Lair, R. (1997). Gone Astray: The Care and Management of the Asian Elephant in Domesticity. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Langbauer, W. R. (2000). Elephant communication. Zoo Biology, 19(5), 425–445. doi: 10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:5<425::AID-ZOO11>3.0.CO;2-AGoogle Scholar
Langbauer, W. R., Payne, K. B., Charif, R. A., Rapaport, L., & Osborn, F. (1991). African elephants respond to distant playbacks of low-frequency conspecific calls. Journal of Experimental Biology, 157, 35–46. Retrieved from http://jeb.biologists.org/content/jexbio/157/1/35.full.pdfGoogle Scholar
Lee, P. C. (1987). Allomothering among African elephants. Animal Behaviour, 35(1), 278–291. doi: 10.1016/S0003-3472(87)80234-8Google Scholar
Lee, P. C., & Moss, C. (1999). The Social Context for Learning and Behavioural Development among Wild African Elephants. In Box, H. O. & Gibson, K. R. (Eds.), Mammalian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives (pp. 102–125). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Leimgruber, P., Gagnon, J. B., Wemmer, C., Kelly, D. S., Songer, M. A., & Selig, E. R. (2003). Fragmentation of Asia’s remaining wildlands: Implications for Asian elephant conservation. Animal Conservation, 6(4), 347–359. doi: 10.1017/S1367943003003421CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukas, D. & Clutton-Brock, T. (2012). Cooperative breeding and monogamy in mammalian societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1736), 2151–2156. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.2468CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maisels, F., Strindberg, S., Blake, S., Wittemyer, G., Hart, J., Williamson, E. A., … Warren, Y. (2013). Devastating decline of forest elephants in Central Africa. PLoS One, 8(3). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059469Google Scholar
Makecha, R., Fad, O., & Kuczaj, S. A. (2012). The role of touch in the social interactions of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 25, 60–82. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6w54h4s5Google Scholar
McComb, K., Moss, C., Sayialel, S., Baker, L. (2000). Unusually extensive networks of vocal recognition in African elephants. Animal Behaviour, 59(6), 1103–1109. doi: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1406Google Scholar
McComb, K., Moss, C., Durant, S.M., Baker, L., & Sayialel, S. (2001). Matriarchs as repositories of social knowledge in African elephants. Science, 292(5516), 491–494. doi: 10.1126/science.1057895Google Scholar
McComb, K., Baker, L., & Moss, C. (2006). African elephants show high levels of interest in the skulls and ivory of their own species. Biology Letters, 2(1), 26–28. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0400Google Scholar
McComb, K., Shannon, G., Durant, S. M., Sayialel, K., Slotow, R., Poole, J., Moss, C. (2011). Leadership in elephants: The adaptive value of age. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1722), 3270–3276. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0168CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McComb, K., Shannon, G., Sayialel, K. N., & Moss, C. (2014). Elephants can determine ethnicity, gender, and age from acoustic cues in human voices. PNAS, 111(14), 5433–5438. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1321543111Google Scholar
Melis, A., Hare, B., & Tomasello, M. (2006a). Chimpanzees recruit the best collaborators. Science, 311(5765), 1297–1300. doi: 10.1126/science.1123007Google Scholar
Melis, A., Hare, B., & Tomasello, M. (2006b). Engineering cooperation in chimpanzees: Tolerance constraints on cooperation. Animal Behaviour, 72(2), 275–286. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.09.018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michelmore, F., Beardsley, K., Barnes, R. F. W., & Douglas-Hamilton, I. (1994). A model illustrating the changes in forest elephant numbers caused by poaching. African Journal of Ecology, 32(2), 89–99. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.1994.tb00561.xGoogle Scholar
Miller, A. K., Hensman, M. C., Hensman, S., Schultz, K., Reid, P., Shore, M., … Lee, S. (2015). African elephants (Loxodonta africana) can detect TNT using olfaction: Implications for biosensor application. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 171, 177–183. doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2015.08.003Google Scholar
Moss, C. (1988). Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.Google Scholar
Moss, C. J. & Poole, J. H. (1983). Relationships and Social Structure in African Elephants. In Hinde, R. A. (Ed.), Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach (pp. 315–325). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Moss, C. J. & Poole, J. H. (1989). Elephant mate searching: Group dynamics and vocal and olfactory communication. Proceedings of the Symposia Zoological Society, 61, 111–125. Retrieved from www.researchgate.net/publication/263654484_Elephant_mate_searching_Group_dynamics_and_vocal_and_olfactory_communicationGoogle Scholar
Mumby, H. S. & Plotnik, J. M. (2018). Taking the elephants’ perspective: Remembering elephant behavior, cognition and ecology in human-elephant conflict mitigation. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00122Google Scholar
Nandini, S., Keerthipriya, P., & Vidya, T. N. C. (2018). Group size differences may mask underlying similarities in social structure: A comparison of female elephant societies. Behavioral Ecology, 29(1), 145–159. doi: 10.1093/beheco/arx135Google Scholar
Niimura, Y., Matsui, A., & Touhara, K. (2014). Extreme expansion of the olfactory receptor gene repertoire in African elephants and evolutionary dynamics of orthologous gene groups in 13 placental mammals. Genome Research, 24(9), 1485–1496. doi: 10.1101/gr.169532.113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nissani, M., Hoefler‐Nissani, D., Lay, U. T., & Htun, U. W. (2005). Simultaneous visual discrimination in Asian elephants. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 83(1), 15–29. doi: 10.1901/jeab.2005.34-04Google Scholar
O’Connell, C., Hart, L. A., Arnason, B. T. (1999). Comments on ‘‘Elephant hearing’’ [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104, 1122–1123 (1998)]. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 105(3), 2051–2052. doi: 10.1121/1.426748Google Scholar
O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E., Arnason, B. T., & Hart, L. A. (2000). Seismic properties of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) vocalizations and locomotion. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 108(6), 3066–3072. doi: 10.1121/1.1323460CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E., Wood, J. D., Rodwell, T. C., Puria, S., Partan, S. R., Keefe, R., … Hart, L. A. (2006). Wild elephant (Loxodonta africana) breeding herds respond to artificially transmitted seismic stimuli. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 59(6), 842–850. doi: 10.1007/s00265-005-0136-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E. (2007). Keeping an “ear” to the ground: Seismic communication in elephants. Physiology, 22(4), 287–294. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00008.2007Google Scholar
O’Connell-Rodwell, C. E., Wood, J. D., Kinzley, C., Rodwell, T. C., Poole, J. H., & Puria, S. (2007). Wild African elephants (Loxodonta africana) discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar conspecific seismic alarm calls. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 122(2), 823–830. doi: 10.1121/1.2747161Google Scholar
Payne, K. B., Langbauer, W. R., & Thomas, E. M. (1986). Infrasonic calls of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 18(4), 297–301. doi: 10.1007/BF00300007Google Scholar
Perdue, B. M., Talbot, C. F., Stone, A. M., & Beran, M. J. (2012). Putting the elephant back in the herd: Elephant relative quantity judgments match those of other species. Animal Cognition, 15(5), 955–961. doi: 10.1007/s10071-012-0521-yCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plotnik, J. M., de Waal, F. B. M., & Reiss, D. (2006). Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. PNAS, 103(45), 17053–17057. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0608062103Google Scholar
Plotnik, J. M., Lair, R., Suphachoksahakun, W., & de Waal, F. B. M. (2011). Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task. PNAS, 108(22), 5116–5121. https://doi-org.proxy.wexler.hunter.cuny.edu/10.1073/pnas.1101765108Google Scholar
Plotnik, J. M., Pokorny, J. J., Keratimanochaya, T., Webb, C.., Beronja, H. F., Hennessy, A., … Getz, D. (2013). Visual cues given by humans are not sufficient for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to find hidden food. PLoS One, 8(4). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061174Google Scholar
Plotnik, J. M. & de Waal, F. B. M. (2014). Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) reassure others in distress. PeerJ, 2(1). doi: 10.7717/peerj.278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plotnik, J. M., Shaw, R. C., Brubaker, D. L., Tiller, L. N., & Clayton, N. S. (2014). Thinking with their trunks: Elephants use smell but not sound to locate food and exclude nonrewarding alternatives. Animal Behaviour, 88, 91–98. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.11.011Google Scholar
Plotnik, J. M. & Clayton, N. S. (2015). Convergent Cognitive Evolution across Animal Taxa: Comparisons of Chimpanzees, Corvids, and Elephants. In Margolis, E. & Laurence, S. (Eds.), The Conceptual Mind: New Directions in the Study of Concepts (pp. 29–56). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Plotnik, J. M., Brubaker, D. L., Dale, R., Tiller, L. N., Mumby, H. S., & Clayton, N. S. (2019). Elephants have a nose for quantity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(25), 12566–12571.Google Scholar
Polansky, L., Kilian, W. & Wittemyer, G. (2015). Elucidating the significance of spatial memory on movement decisions by African savannah elephants using state–space models. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1805), 1–7. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.3042Google Scholar
Poole, J. H. (1982). Musth and male-male competition in the African elephant. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Poole, J. (1996). Coming of Age with Elephants: A Memoir. New York: Hyperion.Google Scholar
Poole, J. H., Payne, K., Langbauer, W. R., & Moss, C. J. (1988). The social contexts of some very low frequency calls of African elephants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 22(6), 385–392. doi: 10.1007/BF00294975Google Scholar
Poole, J. H., Tyack, P. L., Stoeger-Horwath, A. S., & Watwood, S (2005). Elephants are capable of vocal learning. Nature, 434(7032), 455–456. doi: 10.1038/434455aGoogle Scholar
Poole, J. H. & Moss, C. J. (2008). Elephant Sociality and Complexity: The Scientific Evidence. In Wemmer, C. & Christen, C. A. (Eds.), Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of Coexistence (pp. 69–98). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Povinelli, D. (1989). Failure to find self-recognition in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in contrast to their use of mirror cues to discover hidden food. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103(2), 122–131. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.103.2.122Google Scholar
Rasmussen, L. E. L., Lee, T. D., Zhang, A., Roelofs, W. L., & Daves, G. D. (1997). Purification, identification, concentration and bioactivity of (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate: Sex pheromone of the female Asian elephant, Elephas maximus. Chemical Senses, 22(4), 417–437. doi: 10.1093/chemse/22.4.417Google Scholar
Rasmussen, L. E. L. & Krishnamurthy, V. (2000). How chemical signals integrate Asian elephant society: The known and the unknown. Zoo Biology, 19(5), 405–423. doi: 10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:5<405::AID-ZOO10>3.0.CO;2-JGoogle Scholar
Rensch, B. (1957). The intelligence of elephants. Scientific American, 196(2), 44–49. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican0257-44Google Scholar
Rizvanovic, A., Amundin, M., & Laska, M. (2013). Olfactory discrimination ability of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) for structurally related odorants. Chemical Senses, 32(2), 107–118. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjs097Google Scholar
Roca, A. L., Georgiadis, N., Pecon-Slattery, J., & O’Brien, S. J. (2001). Genetic evidence for two species of elephant in Africa. Science, 293(5534), 1473–1477. doi: 10.1126/science.1059936Google Scholar
Rohland, N., Reich, D., Mallick, S., Meyers, M., Green, R. E., Georgiadis, N. J., Roca, A. L., & Hofreiter, M. (2010). Genomic DNA sequences from mastodon and woolly mammoth reveal deep speciation of forest and savanna elephants. PLoS Biology, 8(12). doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000564.Google Scholar
Schmitt, M. H., Shuttleworth, A., Ward, D., & Shrader, A. M. (2018). African elephants use plant odours to make foraging decisions across multiple spatial scales. Animal Behaviour, 141, 17–27.Google Scholar
Schulte, B. A. (2000) Social structure and helping behavior in captive elephants. Zoo Biology, 19(5), 447–459. doi: 10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:5<447::AID-ZOO12>3.0.CO;2-#Google Scholar
Shannon, G., Slotow, R., Durant, S. M., Sayialel, K. N., Poole, J., Moss, C., & McComb, K. (2013). Effects of social disruption in elephants persist decades after culling. Frontiers in Zoology, 10(1). doi: 10.1186/1742-9994-10-62CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shettleworth, S. J. (2010). Cognition, Evolution and Behavior (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
de Silva, S., Ranjeewa, A. D. G., & Kryazhimskiy, S. (2011). The dynamics of social networks among female Asian elephants. BMC Ecology, 11. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-17Google Scholar
de Silva, S. & Wittemyer, G. (2012). A comparison of social organization in Asian elephants and African Savannah elephants. International Journal of Primatology, 33, 1125–1141. doi: 10.1007/s10764-011-9564-1Google Scholar
Sitati, N. W., Walpole, M. J., Smith, R. J., & Leader-Williams, N. (2003). Predicting spatial aspects of human–elephant conflict. Journal of Applied Ecology, 40(4), 667–677. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00828.xGoogle Scholar
Slotow, R., Van Dyk, G., Poole, J., Page, B., & Klocke, A. (2000). Older bull elephants control young males: Orphaned male adolescents go on killing sprees if mature males aren’t around. Nature, 408, 425–426. doi: 10.1038/35044191Google Scholar
Slotow, R. & Van Dyk, G. (2001). Role of delinquent young “orphan” male elephants in high mortality of white rhinoceros in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa. Koedoe, 44(1), 85–94. doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v44i1.188Google Scholar
Smet, A. F. & Byrne, R. W. (2013). African elephants can use human pointing cues to find hidden food. Current Biology 23(20), 2033–2037. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.08.037CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smet, A. F. & Byrne, R. W. (2014a). Interpretation of human pointing by African elephants: Generalisation and rationality. Animal Cognition, 17(6), 1365–1374.Google Scholar
Smet, A. F. & Byrne, R. W. (2014b). African elephants (Loxodonta africana) recognize visual attention from face and body orientation. Biology Letters, 10(7), 20140428.Google Scholar
Sukumar, R. (1994). Elephant Days and Nights: Ten Years with the Indian Elephant. Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sukumar, R. (2006). A brief review of the status, distribution and biology of wild Asian elephants Elephas maximus. International Zoo Yearbook, 40(1), 1–8. doi: 10.1111/j.1748-1090.2006.00001.xGoogle Scholar
Tomasello, M. & Call, J. (1997). Primate Cognition. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trivers, R. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 46(1), 35–57. doi: 10.1086/406755Google Scholar
Venkataraman, A. B., Kumar, N. V., Varma, S., & Sukumar, R. (2002). Conservation of a flagship species: Prioritizing Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) conservation units in southern India. Current Science, 82(8), 1022–1033. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/24106771Google Scholar
Vidya, T. N. C., & Sukumar, R. (2005). Social and reproductive behaviour in elephants. Current Science, 89(7), 1200–1207. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24110972Google Scholar
de Waal, F. B. M. (2008). Putting the altruism back into altruism: The evolution of empathy. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 279–300. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093625Google Scholar
Wittemyer, G., Douglas-Hamilton, I., & Getz, W. M. (2005). The socioecology of elephants: Analysis of the processes creating multitiered social structures. Animal Behaviour, 69(6) 1357–1371. doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.08.018Google Scholar
Wittemyer, G., Northrup, J. M., Blanc, J., Douglas-Hamilton, I., Omondi, P., & Burnham, K. P. (2014). Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants. PNAS, 111(36), 13117–13121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1403984111Google Scholar
Yasui, S. & Idani, G. (2017). Social significance of trunk use in captive Asian elephants. Ethology Ecology & Evolution, 29(4), 330–350. doi: 10.1080/03949370.2016.1179684Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×