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Big Brains
Elephants have big brains. The brain of an adult elephant measures about 5,500 cubic centimeters, compared to 1,350 for a person. Since elephants also have big bodies, their large brains are not surprising. But an elephant brain is larger than what you would predict from just its body weight. What does an elephant do with its big brain?
Elephants use their large brains to remember many things. Elephants live for a long time, and during their long lives they have many experiences, leading to many memories. Female elephants typically remember the “voices” of several hundred elephants. They also remember watering holes that have water in dry times. Their good memories help them survive.
Elephants are skilled tool users. The older female elephants, called matriarchs, teach tool-use to the young. Elephants pick up and throw rocks and logs. Elephants use sticks to remove bugs from their bodies, and branches to swat away flies. Researchers have seen elephants make tools by shortening a long branch or stripping away excess vegetation.
Finally, some recent research suggests that elephants are self-aware. In the mirror test, scientists place smudges on an elephant's forehead and observe what the elephant does when it sees itself in a mirror. Just as a person would, the elephant tries to rub off the dirt.
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