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The Iconic Sri Lankan Elephant

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<strong>The</strong> Origins of the <strong>Elephant</strong><br />

<strong>Elephant</strong>s are large herbivorus mammals and belong to the Family Proboscidea which means animals with a long<br />

flexible snout or proboscis.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y evolved from a pig sized ancestor that lived in northern Africa about 50-60 million years ago. Through time,<br />

Family Proboscidea comprised of more than 350 species. But today it is represented by only three species,<br />

Loxodonta africana<br />

Loxodonta cyclotis<br />

Elephas maximus<br />

(African savannah elephant)<br />

(African forest elephant)<br />

(Asian elephant)

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