Osmoregulatory mechanisms in holocephalan fishes are poorly understood except that these fish are known to conduct urea-based osmoregulation as in elasmobranchs. We, therefore, examined changes in plasma parameters of elephant fish Callorhinchus milii, after gradual transfer to concentrated (120%) or diluted (80%) seawater (SW). In control fish, plasma Na and urea concentrations were about 300 ...

We acquired magnetic resonance images of the brain of an adult African elephant, Loxodonta africana, in the axial and parasagittal planes and produced anatomically labeled images. We quantified the volume of the whole brain (3,886.7 cm3) and of the neocortical and cerebellar gray and white matter. The white matter-to-gray matter ratio in the elephant neocortex and cerebellum is in keeping with ...

This thesis investigates how KoShik, otherwise known as the talking elephant, can have a human-like voice articulation. The mechanism of articulating a human sound by an elephant can be described as a unique excitation process in which the elephant first places its nose in its mouth, blows air into the mouth, produces the basic frequency by pressing the nose with its mouth and teeth, and then a...

The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as Endangered by IUCN. The Elephas maximus are an ecologically and economically important species in many Indian habitats. However, illegal hunting, poaching, habitat destruction and other factors, especially in wild elephant ...

The elephant trunk technique is used as a standard method in the approach to staged repair of extensive thoracic aneurysms. Here, we present a rare case of a graft infection, in which vegetation was attached to the distal end of the elephant trunk. A 36-year old male who had undergone total arch replacement with elephant trunk installation for type A aortic dissection was readmitted for high-gr...

M.A. Ahlering, F. Hailer, M.T. Roberts & C. Foley A simple and accurate method to sex savannah, forest and Asian elephants using noninvasive sampling techniques Molec. Ecology Resources 11 (2011) 831-834 Abstract. We report the development of a reliable and efficient method for molecular sexing of all extant elephant taxa. We developed primers that amplify two short Y-specific fragments (SRY1 a...

There is an ancient and well-known Asian folk-tale that, in a version by the poet Rumi in Tales from the Masnavi, tells of four men who are asked to feel an elephant in a dark room and describe what they are sensing. Each of them touches just one part of the elephant, so they all reach different conclusions and think that they are in the presence of either a water-spout, a fan, a pillar, or a t...

BACKGROUND Artificial insemination (AI) using frozen-thawed semen is well established and routinely used for breeding in various mammalian species. However, there is no report of the birth of elephant calves following AI with frozen-thawed semen. The objective of the present study was to investigate the fertilizing ability of chilled and frozen-thawed semen in the Asian elephant following artif...

1. Body condition plays a fundamental role in many ecological and evolutionary processes at a variety of scales and across a broad range of animal taxa. An understanding of how body condition changes at fine spatial and temporal scales as a result of interaction with the environment provides necessary information about how animals acquire resources. 2. However, comparatively little is known abo...