A Tale of Two Elephants

Before classifying organisms, scientists must make many careful observations about them. Even differences that seem small may be significant when making classification groups. Look closely at the two organisms below.

The elephants in the picture actually represent two different species. The elephant on the left is an African elephant. It is larger, has bigger ears, has less hair, and has a different shape of head and body than the other elephant. The picture on the right is an Asian elephant. It is slightly smaller, has smaller ears, and has more hair than the African elephant. The two elephants are different because of the different environments they live in. More recent observations suggest that there may be a third species of elephant. The African species may need to be separated in to two different species. One group of African elephants lives in the forests, and one group lives on the savanna (grassland).

Why would creating a third species matter to science? If the African elephants are two species instead of one, it means that there are actually fewer living elephants in each species. The African elephant species may be more endangered than was previously thought. Without using careful observation to make better classifications, we may let a species become extinct and not even realize it.