African elephants show high levels of interest in the skulls and ivory of their own species
Open accessAbstract
An important area of biology involves investigating the origins in animals of traits that are thought of as uniquely human. One way that humans appear unique is in the importance they attach to the dead bodies of other humans, particularly those of their close kin, and the rituals that they have developed for burying them. In contrast, most animals appear to show only limited interest in the carcasses or associated remains of dead individuals of their own species. African elephants (Loxodonta africana) are unusual in that they not only give dramatic reactions to the dead bodies of other elephants, but are also reported to systematically investigate elephant bones and tusks that they encounter, and it has sometimes been suggested that they visit the bones of relatives. Here, we use systematic presentations of object arrays to demonstrate that African elephants show higher levels of interest in elephant skulls and ivory than in natural objects or the skulls of other large terrestrial mammals. However, they do not appear to specifically select the skulls of their own relatives for investigation so that visits to dead relatives probably result from a more general attraction to elephant remains.
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African elephants are more interested in the bones and tusks of dead elephants than similar-sized bones of other species.
“Experiments with artificially placed bones confirm that African elephants are more interested in the bones and tusks of dead elephants than similar-sized bones of other species.”
From Elephant cognition. (2008) · cites this paper as McComb, K., Baker, L., and Moss, C. (2006)
Elephants in McComb et al. (2006) showed more interest in ivory than in skulls.
“Interestingly, elephants in this study showed more interest in ivory than in skulls.”
From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as McComb et al., 2006
The skulls in McComb et al. (2006) were washed and moved to a different location, and thus may have been lacking cues (e.g., olfactory, spatial) that would be important for individual recognition.
“However, the skulls in this study were washed and moved to a different location, and thus may have been lacking cues (e.g., olfactory, spatial) that would be important for individual recognition.”
From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as McComb et al., 2006
McComb et al. (2006) found that African savanna elephants were more interested in elephant skulls and ivory than wood, and more interested in elephant skulls than buffalo and rhinoceros skulls. However, when presented with skulls from one kin (matriarch) and one nonkin, elephants did not display different levels of interest.
“They found that African savanna elephants were more interested in elephant skulls and ivory than wood, and more interested in elephant skulls than buffalo and rhinoceros skulls. However, when presented with skulls from one kin (matriarch) and one nonkin, elephants did not display different levels of interest.”
From Do elephants really never forget? What we know about elephant memory and a call for further investigation (2025) · cites this paper as McComb et al., 2006
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Behavioural reactions of elephants towards a dying and deceased matriarch
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- Authors
- McComb, K., Baker, L., & Moss, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Sussex (GB)
- PO Box 15135, Langata 00509, Nairobi, Kenya 2
- Corresponding author
- McComb, Karen
- Venue
- Biology Letters
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2005-10-25
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 26-28
- ISSN
- 1744-9561 (ISSN-L)
- 1744-957X
- PMC
- PMC1617198
- OpenAlex
- W2129905498
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 4.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Biology Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Keywords
- Loxodonta africana, ivory, animal cognition, kin recognition, object arrays, animal behavior
- MeSH terms
- Africa, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Elephants, Skull, Species Specificity
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