What Happened to the Four Tusked Elephants?

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  • Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
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    Up until 8,000 years ago there were many different types of elephants, with different tusk and trunk shapes. Most common of these living alongside modern elephants for many years were the four tusked elephants. Why did these elephants evolve? What did they use their tusks for? And why did they die out just leaving the two tusked elephants.
    Sources:
    www.sciencedir...
    digital.csic.es...
    www.britannica...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,4 тис.

  • @thhseeking
    @thhseeking 4 роки тому +1156

    Incidentally, your pronunciation of "Cuvieronius" is off. Cuvieronius is named after the French naturalist Baron Georges Cuvier. So the "C" is pronounced as a "K".

    • @bdsingletary
      @bdsingletary 4 роки тому +39

      I hate when they pronounce Latin words using church Latin pronunciations

    • @akap9612
      @akap9612 4 роки тому +176

      @@bdsingletary Pronouncing a "c" like an "s" before a "u" is definitely not "Church Latin pronunciation." It is just a mistake.

    • @nightwishlover8913
      @nightwishlover8913 4 роки тому +51

      And as for "enlargened"...Good Grief, man! The word is "enlarged".

    • @gregcoogan8270
      @gregcoogan8270 4 роки тому +23

      @@bdsingletary English words derived from Latin follow English pronunciation. Two words in that previous sentence that are latinate ("derived" and "pronunciation") is not pronounced according to any form of Latin.

    • @King_Cova
      @King_Cova 4 роки тому +12

      @@gregcoogan8270
      First of all the latin in english comes from French. Not from direct latin.

  • @petersmythe6462
    @petersmythe6462 4 роки тому +1902

    "Mainly their large tusks."
    We're just gonna ignore the whole giant face tentacle in a terrestrial mammal part?

    • @ronjayrose9706
      @ronjayrose9706 4 роки тому +94

      More like elongated nostrils

    • @diebesgrab
      @diebesgrab 4 роки тому +64

      I mean, more than anything on their face, I’d say the thing that sets elephants apart from other living terrestrial mammals is the whole size thing.

    • @krkrbbr
      @krkrbbr 4 роки тому +80

      I don't think being mammal or terrestrial contributes to the absurdness of face tentacle.

    • @FrogEnjoyer17
      @FrogEnjoyer17 4 роки тому +13

      I hate it when people put stuff we take for granted like that

    • @michaelmccarty1327
      @michaelmccarty1327 4 роки тому +19

      What's wrong with your Faaaace?

  • @stankahuna5271
    @stankahuna5271 4 роки тому +2145

    Its so sad that modern elephants are selecting for no tusks, its also amazing how evolution can save the species watching natural selection working in real time, I'm torn...

    • @theherrdark4834
      @theherrdark4834 4 роки тому +212

      It is also a lesson in evolution that changes and being pressured are what influences evolution, not becoming placid. If a species hit a point where they get what they need there is no reason to evolve or develop further.

    • @Dennis-oc8bn
      @Dennis-oc8bn 4 роки тому +317

      @@theherrdark4834In this instance in seems that evolving to lose tusks is only better to survive due to human pressure, which makes it sad

    • @jesusjoseph1899
      @jesusjoseph1899 4 роки тому +251

      Tuskless is the only way for their species to survive.I'll rather have tuskless elephants than no elephants in the future TBH.It's a choice they didnt want but a must.

    • @grandwonder5858
      @grandwonder5858 4 роки тому +81

      Not natural selection at all! Tuskless elephants were unnaturally selected by the despicable humans simply because they don't have tusks for humans to poach!

    • @anserbauer309
      @anserbauer309 4 роки тому +345

      @@grandwonder5858 Tuskless elephants aren't being selected for by humans though as they might be in true 'artificial selection'. Humans, in this instance, are predators of elephants and tusklessness is a by-product of that predatory selection pressure. True artificial selection implies a deliberate, guided selection by humans. I think this is an example of 'natural selection'.

  • @bitxuro
    @bitxuro 4 роки тому +1741

    I see an obvious advantage of not having chin tusks: the trunk has more freedom of movement.

    • @jeffreyrobinson3555
      @jeffreyrobinson3555 4 роки тому +207

      We have to look at what they ate vs trunk movement. Things that don’t work well don’t evolve. For some time four tusk had to serve as an advantage. Then something changed

    • @dynamo8846
      @dynamo8846 4 роки тому +194

      Another advantage of only having two tusks is that its cheaper to grow. What I mean is that maybe 4 tusked eleohants did not face any major extinction events (if someone wanna look that up that would be cool) so they just kinda evolved. Then when an extinction event like the end of ice ages happened having 4 tusks was simply too expensive energy wise to grow and maintain for such a large animal

    • @AidanJDupuy
      @AidanJDupuy 4 роки тому +33

      Dynamo that’s a good point dude, I didn’t think about that

    • @televikkuntdaowuxing
      @televikkuntdaowuxing 4 роки тому +28

      You have to keep time spans in mind, these creatures lived for a long long longer time than the time span modern elephants have been around, so these changes were definitely better suited (than having no tusks) for their environments.

    • @shawnsouth327
      @shawnsouth327 4 роки тому +4

      Plus it looks like a badass beard

  • @dreamer6432
    @dreamer6432 4 роки тому +446

    4:23 "Elephant duck isn't real, it can't hurt you"
    Elephant duck:

    • @sherritartt3188
      @sherritartt3188 4 роки тому

      How do elephant s mate

    • @katyungodly
      @katyungodly 4 роки тому +21

      Sherri Tartt same as in smaller animals: the male climbs on top and has a bit of fun ;)

    • @Aeo931
      @Aeo931 4 роки тому

      @@katyungodly AhhshshshshhHahHASHSH😂😂🍑🍑

    • @kirbyofthestarsfan
      @kirbyofthestarsfan 4 роки тому +4

      Elephant Pog

    • @Rexog90
      @Rexog90 3 роки тому

      SCOOP

  • @SomeoneCommenting
    @SomeoneCommenting 4 роки тому +185

    4:19 those ones became extinct when all other elephants started bullying them for the way they looked

    • @SoulDelSol
      @SoulDelSol 4 роки тому +27

      That's mean. Poor shovel phants

    • @dv9239
      @dv9239 3 роки тому +10

      It actually makes more sense than having a tiny mouth and a huge ass nose

    • @zombies4evadude24
      @zombies4evadude24 3 роки тому +8

      Looks like Jar Jar Binks lol

    • @zombies4evadude24
      @zombies4evadude24 3 роки тому +8

      @@dv9239 maybe for scooping up food but tusks are way more versatile and useful, like a human arm but even more flexible. Definitely more useful imo.

    • @MrRainbowBoi
      @MrRainbowBoi 3 роки тому +1

      @@SoulDelSol they’re called Platybelodons

  • @roadhigher
    @roadhigher 4 роки тому +403

    I just have the greatest smile on my face whenever you upload a video. Palaeobiology channels on UA-cam are many but few delve into such interesting and unique creatures like you do with so much good information and effort put into it. One of my favourite channels on YT overall.

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 роки тому +55

      Thank you that's very nice to hear

    • @andy99ish
      @andy99ish 4 роки тому +6

      Marxists have an understandable preponderance towards paleobiology, Comrade. As they adhere to paleopolitical theories.

    • @thedarkmasterthedarkmaster
      @thedarkmasterthedarkmaster 4 роки тому +3

      @@andy99ish Yes

    • @jens8533
      @jens8533 4 роки тому +2

      @@andy99ish hahaha fellow Marxist here. You might be up to something ;)

    • @bigchungus3304
      @bigchungus3304 3 роки тому +8

      Cringe

  • @C-Rex1
    @C-Rex1 4 роки тому +281

    It's sad to think that such a successful species is now nearly teetering on the edge of extinction.

    • @Raison_d-etre
      @Raison_d-etre 4 роки тому +35

      Well, we've already killed off other megafauna like mammoths.

    • @zulemaalderete5299
      @zulemaalderete5299 4 роки тому +13

      I mean thats not very uncommon since most species that have existed are now extinct

    • @TremereTT
      @TremereTT 3 роки тому +15

      The elephant is one of these species who does terraform their living space, just like humans. Where elephants live forrests are turned into savanahs. Tusks aid the elephant to harvest from trees. So it's probably ok for them to loose their tusks. Yet they also need these tusks to dig for water in the pretty dry savanahs that they keep from becoming forrests . So this might make them more weather dependent in a time where weather becomes less stable.

    • @scorpiusrexman1017
      @scorpiusrexman1017 3 роки тому +24

      @@Raison_d-etre scientists believed that a mixture of climate change and overhunting played a role in the mammoths extinction so even if we humans hunted them to near-extinction they were still doomed due to the changes in the climate that’s the reason why elephants are still around because Africa and Asia’s climate didn’t change as much since the last ice age
      That’s how they survived while the mammoths and mastodons didn’t mammoths and mastodons lived in a temperate climate meaning that any climate change occurred their food sources would die out and forests would expand thus mammoths and mastodons couldn’t adapt to the climate changing or the arrival of humans killing them for food
      while African and Asian elephants lived in tropical climate so their food sources and habitats weren’t affected as much by climate so they wouldn’t be drastically effected by humans hunting them because they’d still have a climate suitable enough for them to continue on thriving
      That’s the reason why elephants are still alive while mammoths and mastodons are extinct

    • @user-ce6cl8wg3r
      @user-ce6cl8wg3r 3 роки тому +9

      @@TremereTT elephants don’t turn forests into savanahs they keep forests how they are. Elephants are one of the major dispersers of seeds. They help other plants grow they eat the seeds and then poop out a large variety of seeds. As well as when they use their trunks to shake the plants of off trees their seeds fall into the ground leaving them to grow into full trees

  • @j.b.335
    @j.b.335 4 роки тому +686

    32.4 million years from now , when the octopus evolves into the next intelligence on this planet , they will find a long extinct skeleton of a platypus and wonder " wtf was this "

    • @corncrackerkid5092
      @corncrackerkid5092 4 роки тому +83

      J. B. I can only imagine when they find a whale skeleton, they look NOTHING like their live counterparts

    • @j.b.335
      @j.b.335 4 роки тому +9

      @@corncrackerkid5092
      Right ..change is the only constant

    • @righteouspal6246
      @righteouspal6246 4 роки тому +18

      @Ghettobible It is not necessarily a problem, it's just that they can't/don't teach the following generations.

    • @j.b.335
      @j.b.335 4 роки тому +18

      @Tecumseh
      Go back far enough and our ancient ancestors had to do just that very thing .

    • @garethbaus5471
      @garethbaus5471 4 роки тому +41

      @Ghettobible 32million years would be plenty of time for a long lived social octopus to possibly develop with the right evolutionary pressures.

  • @AnOpenMindedDrinker
    @AnOpenMindedDrinker 3 роки тому +34

    “Mammoths still survived in Beringia until 13,000 years ago, and a subset that evolved to be small (about the size of a large horse) survived on arctic islands until as recently as 4,000 years ago.”
    🤯

    • @pocketmarcy6990
      @pocketmarcy6990 Рік тому +7

      It would’ve been so cool if they’d survived and we’d ended up with Pygmy mammoths living along side polar bears in the arctic

  • @toothclaw6985
    @toothclaw6985 4 роки тому +44

    There are a couple reasons as to why lower tusks were lost.
    1.) Overall, the climate became cooler starting from the middle-late Miocene. The highest amount of heat transfer in an elephant occurs at the head, particularly the ears, trunk, and tusk tips. Having four tusks means more surface area for heat loss, which is disadvantageous when the climate gets colder. As such, losing the lower tusks decreases the amount of surface area for heat loss, allowing proboscideans to retain more heat.
    2.) True elephants (elephantids) lost their lower tusks because they became increasingly more specialized to masticate their food a certain way. They went from a gomphothere-like grinding and shearing rotary motion to a front-and-back power shearing motion with their lower jaws. A number of different cranial and dental features needed to evolve so elephants could perform this action more efficiently, among them shortening the skull and mandibular symphysis, and getting rid of the lower tusks. All of this appears to be a result of the changing climate during the late Miocene that called for greater specialization towards grazing.

  • @mushmush4980
    @mushmush4980 3 роки тому +233

    *"Humans may have had something to do with the decline of gomphotheres."*
    Ancient humans, looking at the monstrosity of 4:23 in fear:

    • @minusshoot1736
      @minusshoot1736 3 роки тому +50

      @@deepwubbinz7919 humans are considered major factor for most large animal extinctions.

    • @minusshoot1736
      @minusshoot1736 3 роки тому +24

      @@deepwubbinz7919 yes the animals that evolved along side us do better than animals that didn't. The evidence that it was humans is that when humans showed up, the population suddenly just plummeted

    • @komradentomolog7701
      @komradentomolog7701 3 роки тому +2

      @@minusshoot1736 yes,but mostly changing the enviroment,not hunting,at least not until guns became a thing.

    • @aczeartk7032
      @aczeartk7032 2 роки тому +4

      @@deepwubbinz7919 Bruh, you're something else lmao. You should brush up on your knowledge of fossilization.

    • @aczeartk7032
      @aczeartk7032 2 роки тому +4

      @@deepwubbinz7919 source: "trust me bro"

  • @lucasphilipevasconcelosgom902
    @lucasphilipevasconcelosgom902 4 роки тому +56

    You were, by very far, the best discovery I've had on youtube this year!

  • @bittersweet7145
    @bittersweet7145 3 роки тому +27

    I can't get over how ridiculous Gomphothere's look 😂Then I made myself sad imagining their extinction was due to depression😔

  • @tomasvrabec1845
    @tomasvrabec1845 4 роки тому +42

    "what happened to 4 tusked elephant?"
    Me: 2 tusked elephants are struggling with being killed for tusks.... 4 tusked one would have no chance

    • @YTCensorshipFindTheCure
      @YTCensorshipFindTheCure 4 роки тому +15

      Maybe 4 tusked elephants would have oversaturated the market and have caused the prices and demand of the ivory trade to go down so less people would want to hunt elephants. But probably not, China loves to destroy entire species for the sake of traditional medicine.

    • @juanbigo1
      @juanbigo1 3 роки тому +2

      @@YTCensorshipFindTheCure fr

    • @AifDaimon
      @AifDaimon 3 роки тому +2

      @@YTCensorshipFindTheCure their so called TCM's actual medical properties have been highly disputed by true medical professionals though

    • @aczeartk7032
      @aczeartk7032 2 роки тому +2

      @@AifDaimon It isn't just highly disputed, it is scientifically proven that Ivory and Pangolin etc. have no mystical properties what so ever.

    • @AifDaimon
      @AifDaimon 2 роки тому +1

      @@aczeartk7032 In short, TCM is nothing more than superstitious bullshit.. Right?

  • @matthewhburch6198
    @matthewhburch6198 3 роки тому +37

    If chin tusks disappeared during the most recent ice age, the reason might be very simple. Upper jaw tusks could be used with closed mouths. Lower jaw tusks likely required opening the mouth for most strenuous tasks like digging or scraping. Opening mouths more than necessary in very cold climates would be a significant caloric drain, even if not deadly. Fewer calories leads to smaller size and less mass to engage in battles for dominance in breeding season.

  • @alafresca7948
    @alafresca7948 4 роки тому +25

    The first thing I see when I look at an elephant is its nose. It's the length of an elephant's nose that always astonishes me; the tusks only sometimes.

  • @yueshijoorya601
    @yueshijoorya601 4 роки тому +106

    I always say, humans happened because Nature accidentally clicked on the "fast forward" and "shuffle" buttons at the same time.

    • @roha5220
      @roha5220 3 роки тому +25

      It's like nature kept pressing the "upgrade" button and now it's frantically spamming the "oh shit go back" button

    • @mazedude5911
      @mazedude5911 3 роки тому +1

      Yes 👍

    • @josephaldrich4023
      @josephaldrich4023 3 роки тому +3

      @@roha5220 Oh shit go back.exe does not respond... Quit without saving?... Windows Earth.exe does not respond.

  • @octoguy3931
    @octoguy3931 4 роки тому +32

    Hear's a fun game:
    Take a shot for every time Moth says 'tusks'.

    • @abhithakur3709
      @abhithakur3709 4 роки тому

      Hdhx z hxh

    • @hzzx0739
      @hzzx0739 3 роки тому +3

      @@abhithakur3709 ah, i can clearly see of you won the game.

  • @walterwhite8229
    @walterwhite8229 4 роки тому +140

    4 tusked elephant:*exists*
    Bad poachers:stonks

    • @Shvetsario
      @Shvetsario 4 роки тому +4

      Double the tusks for the price of one!

    • @shizukamori6755
      @shizukamori6755 4 роки тому +4

      A poacher's dream come true.

    • @treeperson3178
      @treeperson3178 4 роки тому +2

      i wonder why they dont stop poaching

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 4 роки тому +2

      @@treeperson3178 money

    • @Klosop
      @Klosop 3 роки тому +6

      Sometimes the poachers r poor and its only theyre option
      It's sad

  • @_robustus_
    @_robustus_ 4 роки тому +171

    What the hell, man!? Not a single mention of the olyphants of middle earth....

  • @arjyadebsengupta8159
    @arjyadebsengupta8159 3 роки тому +10

    Poacher:Twice the no of tasks twice the fun
    after 2 minutes
    proceeds to get killed

  • @henrythemuthafuckineighth
    @henrythemuthafuckineighth 3 роки тому +27

    “Mainly their large tusks”
    Pretty sure it’s mostly the fact that they literally grab stuff with their noses.

  • @F.H.W
    @F.H.W 4 роки тому +39

    i think i see a trend where when the tusks on the top jaw are smaller they need tusks on the bottom jaw to compensate the range of foraging abilities. But as the top tusks become more predominately used the bottom tusks become less useful, reducing in size; until eventually shrinking back and dissapeairing all together as only their main tusks are needed for all of their uses.

    • @jossypoo
      @jossypoo 4 роки тому +1

      Whats more interesting is that this selection could be for any number of reasons, food availability, competition for mates.

    • @jossypoo
      @jossypoo 4 роки тому

      Like that the chin tusks can be effective for scraping, but more useful in semi-aquatic lifestyles.

    • @quitlife9279
      @quitlife9279 2 роки тому

      @@jossypoo could just be random, maybe it is much easier DNA wise for non harmful mutations to occur to enlarge top tusks vs lower tusk.

  • @chaitanyareddymuthyala2967
    @chaitanyareddymuthyala2967 3 роки тому +4

    Four tusked elephants were mentioned in the Hindu sacred books like Ramayanam , it is said that when Lord hanuman went to Sri Lanka , he had seen four tusked elephants guarding the doors , I think these animals were extint all over the world , but a small population would have remained on the island of Sri Lanka , and went extinct much lately

  • @rjcmick
    @rjcmick 4 роки тому +148

    elephants must be protected forever imo.

    • @eolgrillo
      @eolgrillo 4 роки тому +21

      All animals should to be honest
      except ticks and mosquitoes, they need to just stop.

    • @iforgetiremember5243
      @iforgetiremember5243 4 роки тому +5

      @@eolgrillo they're all part of the chain yo, although we as people drove more than a few species to extinction so who's to say what's right.

    • @zezekingyo2374
      @zezekingyo2374 4 роки тому +4

      @@eolgrillo i mean every animals no matter how bad they are are important. You need to know some animals eat mosquitoes only for survival, and when we drew them away, some animals that eat exclusively on mosquitos would die off

    • @dondragmer2412
      @dondragmer2412 4 роки тому +3

      @@eolgrillo How about pathogenic microbes: malaria, cholera, chlamydia, etc?? and larger harmful organisms such as tapeworms, heartworms, leeches, lice, flesh flies, murder hornets, and so on. But many of what we humans consider harmful or undesirable have their valuable places in ecosystems regardless of what discomfort and pain they cause us.

    • @dondragmer2412
      @dondragmer2412 4 роки тому +1

      @@zezekingyo2374 Many bats and birds among them.

  • @inglouriousbasterds2761
    @inglouriousbasterds2761 4 роки тому +16

    Another great video @Moth Light Media. It’s a shame however that a four tusked elephant today wouldn’t stand a chance against the modern demand for ivory. Albeit, they do look cool.

    • @matthewwelsh294
      @matthewwelsh294 3 роки тому

      Because people suck and want to destroy everything!!

  • @JohnJohansen2
    @JohnJohansen2 4 роки тому +16

    4:20 One of the times when the designer had a day off.

    • @theALTF4
      @theALTF4 3 роки тому +1

      ...when he hits the "random" in the create character menu

    • @mazedude5911
      @mazedude5911 3 роки тому

      It’s weird but it’s true

  • @DinoDudeDillon
    @DinoDudeDillon 4 роки тому +31

    Just a small bit of feedback: around 2:30, you're using the term "deinotherium" interchangeably with "deinotheres" or "deinotherids" generally. This is somewhat confusing, given that you identify it as the first branch of proboscidea, but deinotherium itself is actually a relatively recent genus

  • @christostryfonopouls5204
    @christostryfonopouls5204 3 роки тому +5

    Moth: "Elephants are so iconic for a few reasons"
    Me: oh, like their giant face tentacle or massive size
    Moth: "mainly for their tusks"
    ok

  • @AdityaKadamMechanical
    @AdityaKadamMechanical 4 роки тому +14

    In Hindu text of Ramayana, they mention elephants with 4 tusk guarding Ravana's fort🤯🤯🤯

    • @r1a933
      @r1a933 4 роки тому

      @Wacky Venky atleast tell the truth there is no mention of elephant with 3 tusks in any hindus text.
      Do your mother teach you to be so arrogant, pity on her.

  • @regular-joe
    @regular-joe 4 роки тому +17

    Thanks for this marvelous video! Beautiful AND beautifully informative.

  • @ricksanchez1317
    @ricksanchez1317 4 роки тому +82

    weird to think how elephants lost their four tusks (likely naturally), but now because of our poaching and greed elephants are evolving to lose their tusks entirely. the impact we have on nature and the amount of animals we've killed off through human history is sad

    • @markuskuhn9006
      @markuskuhn9006 4 роки тому +8

      Yeah thankfully elephants losing their tusks will save them from extinction

    • @CountingStars333
      @CountingStars333 4 роки тому +10

      Meh. Whatever, life changes, goes extinct. Either for natural reasons or us. We are natural too.

    • @logansmith2703
      @logansmith2703 3 роки тому +9

      I don't want to turn this into that OTHER comment thread but... both are natural. It's just we're the evolutionary pressure this time.

    • @artieziff345
      @artieziff345 3 роки тому +3

      @@logansmith2703 Except that we have both the power and the common sense to realize when things are going out of control and fix that

    • @chefmarcos
      @chefmarcos 3 роки тому +4

      Hey, we’re the top predators on the planet. We are part of this whole evolution process. Let’s not forget we are animals. Arrogant ones at that.

  • @starwarfan8342
    @starwarfan8342 4 роки тому +12

    "Often with a twist" while showing an elephant cousin with inward curved tusks. lol nice pun

  • @shadowraith1
    @shadowraith1 4 роки тому +44

    Evolution can be an amazing process. Thanks for some insight on the elephant's ancestry. Quite fascinating. :)

    • @TheSkullConfernece
      @TheSkullConfernece 4 роки тому +2

      Not only is evolution a far more reasonable conclusion to the diversity and history of species compared to creationism, but it's far more interesting as well! Every year or month archaeologists, biologists, and ecologists discover new insights into Earth's life history and reveal surprising explanations to the mechanisms and reasoning behind all the adaptations that life has developed. Imagine how boring it must be for creationists. They are inclined to believe because of their fear of what might happen to them in the afterlife so they miss all these amazing discoveries and explanations. I'm glad that I'm not under such dogma and can constantly learn everyday from what the scientific process has uncovered rather than just shrugging at the origin of peculiar life forms and stating "Welp, that's just how god wanted it." And question no more.

    • @yesyoureright
      @yesyoureright 3 роки тому

      Losing a tusk has nothing to do with evolution. My god study evolution before saying something so horrendous. Evolution ie a species evolving to a completely different species ( still a theory that's completely false according to major scientists including Darwin himself) that is still an elephant.

    • @catatoblob8598
      @catatoblob8598 3 роки тому

      @@yesyoureright Evolution is the process of change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Perhaps you got "Evolution" confused with "Speciation", the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.

    • @yesyoureright
      @yesyoureright 3 роки тому

      @@catatoblob8598 evolution a THEORY. A change to a different kind in species. Stop talking nonsense.

    • @catatoblob8598
      @catatoblob8598 3 роки тому

      @@yesyoureright no? Look up the definition of evolution you illiterate pleb.

  • @jonathanpickles2946
    @jonathanpickles2946 4 роки тому +76

    I'm quite sure that trunks are the most distinct feature of elephants ;)

  • @vandelftcrafts2958
    @vandelftcrafts2958 2 роки тому +7

    chin tusks/shovels might have been used for digging for roots and other stuff in the ground. In the ice ages with frozen soils digging is not possible and the animals with "mouth shovels" would go extinct.

  • @rishishah6810
    @rishishah6810 4 роки тому +6

    Amazing informative channel... cannot believe so few subscribers for the quality you are pumping out ... keep it up and you'll be on 1 million soon

  • @MBCGRS
    @MBCGRS 4 роки тому +5

    I have an old African Hunting book somewhere that has black and white photos of a four Tusked Elephant. Not the famous skull you see on the web. But rather on a living Elephant...

    • @idleonlooker1078
      @idleonlooker1078 4 роки тому +1

      What's the title and author of the book. I'd be interested to see it. I have a book with a photo of a 3-tusked elephant.

    • @iddomargalit-friedman3897
      @iddomargalit-friedman3897 4 роки тому

      @Mike Spencer
      Laughed out loud, thanks

  • @extrapressure
    @extrapressure 4 роки тому +1

    I don't want a world where wild elephants no longer have tusks. Poaching, especially of elephants needs to stop. Great video.

  • @zeusnitch
    @zeusnitch 4 роки тому +11

    1:43 reminds me of "The Big Book of British Smiles" and Lisa's computerized dental progression from The Simpsons (dental plan! Lisa needs braces)

  • @TheChroniclesOfYarnia
    @TheChroniclesOfYarnia 4 роки тому +10

    Wouldn’t the chin tusks have disappeared with the warming of the ice age? Without the snow and ice the shovel like tusk and or teeth are mostly unnecessary. My assumption is the shovel like chin appendage is for scooping snow and ice out of the way so the animal can graze on plant matter. When the ice age was gone they no longer needed the scoop teeth/tusk but now just needed tusks for defense.

  • @ashh8019
    @ashh8019 3 роки тому +4

    I love these videos, well made, well thought out. Great narration. Thank you

  • @MustangsTrainsMowers
    @MustangsTrainsMowers 4 роки тому +8

    Did all of the Mastodons have curved tusks? My moms uncle found a tusk in southern Minnesota decades ago but it was fairly straight. The outside looked like dried Ivory soap with flakes when I last saw it in 1994. He was trying to get $10,000 for it but he died in 1994. His son told me he was donating it to a museum.

    • @ServantofBaal
      @ServantofBaal 4 роки тому +9

      That's probably because you're getting mastodons confused with mammoths. Mastodons largely had smaller, straighter tusks in comparison to the massive curved tusks of mammoths. Not to say mastodon tusks weren't curved, but not nearly as much as mammoths

    • @illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon
      @illseeyaonthedarksideofthemoon Рік тому

      He donated it? What a sucker.

  • @Mr_blue_7777
    @Mr_blue_7777 4 роки тому +15

    They can barely avoid the hunters with two imaging four would be hard 😣

  • @kathryncarter6143
    @kathryncarter6143 4 роки тому +5

    I never knew any of them ever had more than 2 tusks! Good thing they're not alive today. Poachers would finish them off in no time.

  • @404_NotFound-q8l
    @404_NotFound-q8l 2 роки тому +2

    Humans: *hunt elephants for their tusks*
    Evolution: You have lost ivory privileges 🔫

  • @kathrynsmith3417
    @kathrynsmith3417 3 роки тому +2

    Having viewed videos showing zoo vets, elephant rescue vets working on doing infected/diseased elephant tusk extractions, medical attention to inflamed, sore places around the elephant's tusks into their skull & surrounding tissues, tusks in use by the elephant can risk medical problems. Looking at the four-tusked elephant, I can't imagine the X4 medical problems, accidents, disease, etc., for those elephants.

  • @Shaden0040
    @Shaden0040 4 роки тому +37

    They were all killed off in the Battle of the Pelanor Fields. ;)

    • @MarsFKA
      @MarsFKA 4 роки тому +1

      Dammit! *I* was going to say that!
      Well done, all the same.

    • @jondunmore4268
      @jondunmore4268 4 роки тому +1

      ...and here I am thinking all you nerds were sticklers for spelling. Turns out I'M the biggest nerd of all - it's *Pelennor* Fields.

  • @ajg0075
    @ajg0075 4 роки тому +8

    Another great video, maybe you should do one that focuses on the first evolutionary wave of Proboscians: the Deinotheres

  • @CHLOCHLOLP
    @CHLOCHLOLP 3 роки тому +2

    the idea of humans hunting these creatures that lived 10 million years ago just fucks with my sense of time so much.

    • @craigdurso3005
      @craigdurso3005 3 роки тому +1

      Imagine now how a group of half naked men about 3/4 our size , would then hunt down and kill several of these things ata a time 🧐

    • @curious5887
      @curious5887 2 роки тому

      It’s just a mistake, many of these animal that died ten million years ago is because competition from other animal and also changing climate

  • @NaturallyEarth
    @NaturallyEarth Рік тому +1

    its sad that elephants are losing their tusks, but at the same time its incredible that we're witnessing evolution before our eyes due to our own impact on the natural world

  • @tiffsaver
    @tiffsaver 4 роки тому +11

    When "social distancing" was implemented, two of their horns had to go...

  • @dannya1854
    @dannya1854 3 роки тому +5

    "Elephants are losing their tusks due to selective pressure by humans"
    :(
    That's so fucking depressing

  • @tuxuhds6955
    @tuxuhds6955 2 роки тому +2

    Regarding that tusk loss in new Elephant populations - Our shame is endless.
    Thank you for another great video.

  • @blakespower
    @blakespower 2 роки тому +2

    he probably couldn't pay his dental bills

  • @benallen7704
    @benallen7704 4 роки тому +28

    Elephants being selected to have no tusks... because of us.
    Good Job, Humans. :/

    • @averageterrariafan2215
      @averageterrariafan2215 4 роки тому

      It can be beneficial for elephants as tusks r unnecessary because they r heavy and not good for defending as they make the elephant slow, and elephants have thick skin protection anyway against claw and bite attacks, I see this as a win for elephants

    • @Starklar
      @Starklar 4 роки тому +3

      @Borko Borko we kill elephants, leave the bodies to rot and take the tusks to sell to superstitious idiots. feel sad.

    • @NoName-xc4hk
      @NoName-xc4hk 4 роки тому +1

      TERRARIA IS AWESOME Are you aware that elephants are still going to have a hard time defending against predators and other pack mates without tusks?

    • @jondunmore4268
      @jondunmore4268 4 роки тому +1

      @@NoName-xc4hk -- Well, they're still big and fat.

    • @D8W2P4
      @D8W2P4 3 роки тому

      @@Starklar
      No.
      I will not feel sad for belonging to a successful species, especially one that can make a natural force like evolution itself bend to our will.

  • @Iomhar
    @Iomhar 4 роки тому +11

    "... living from America to Mexico..."
    And where is Mexico supposed to be? Australia?

  • @rexmundi3108
    @rexmundi3108 4 роки тому +2

    Elephants are losing their tusks while humans are evolving mouth shovels.

  • @georgesalles582
    @georgesalles582 4 роки тому +1

    omg this channel is growing very fast! it deserves so much.

  • @petersmythe6462
    @petersmythe6462 4 роки тому +3

    "And now, they are facing losing their tusks altogether."

  • @larrybrennan1463
    @larrybrennan1463 4 роки тому +2

    Elephants are useful friends,
    Equipped with handles at both ends;
    They have a wrinkled, moth-proof hide;
    Their teeth are upside down outside. . .
    (Ogden Nash)

  • @concept5631
    @concept5631 2 роки тому +1

    4:19 Imagine how surreal it would be to look at one of these things in person.

  • @jaguarsky55
    @jaguarsky55 4 роки тому +1

    Elephants losing their tusks the same way rattlesnakes are losing their rattles.

  • @supportyourtroopsathletes6460
    @supportyourtroopsathletes6460 4 роки тому +3

    Very interesting video indeed and I had no idea on all the subspecies and 4 tusk either. Many prehistoric animals had strange unexplainable skeleton structures though that I find unique myself.

  • @Pupeyes
    @Pupeyes 3 роки тому +3

    I’m always fascinated at how evolution seemed to throw everything to the wall to see what stuck and came out at the other end of different extinction events.

    • @pocketmarcy6990
      @pocketmarcy6990 Рік тому

      That mostly occurred due to just how many niches were left open following the extinction of the dinosaurs

  • @anthonyappleyard5688
    @anthonyappleyard5688 2 роки тому +1

    I suspect that shovel-tuskers used their shovel-tusks to dig for water in dry river beds in droughts.

  • @bendover9813
    @bendover9813 4 роки тому +2

    Yo, I just went down a super weird internet rabbit hole, but according to neuron count, which is used to determine brain power and doesn’t need to account for brain mass or body size, elephants are twice as smart as chimpanzees, and about a 1/3 as smart as humans. Pretty wild that they can probably do arithmetic 🤷🏼‍♂️

    • @bendover9813
      @bendover9813 4 роки тому +1

      Oh, and that explains why they have funerals and display signs of religion while even our closest living relative, chimpanzees, don’t seem to have this despite already using tools. Elephants seem to be just smart enough to grasp the abstract.

    • @eolgrillo
      @eolgrillo 4 роки тому

      It would be cool if they became smarter, like imagine speaking to them with sign language or writing, that'd be wild.

  • @MattGodzilla2000
    @MattGodzilla2000 4 роки тому +20

    I pray and hope some day in some way, the 4 tuskers will return, but i know it isn't gonna happen.

    • @LiezAllLiez
      @LiezAllLiez 4 роки тому

      Humans will sooner grow wings or another pair of arms before a 4 tusk elephant reemerges.

    • @bskec2177
      @bskec2177 4 роки тому +13

      @@LiezAllLiez I disagree. Modification of existing teeth, or activation of dormant psudo-genes for extra tusks, however unlikely, is still far more likely than creating an entirely new set of limbs, regardless of species. All modern elephants are descended from animals with 4 tusks, but no human, or elephant for that matter, has an ancestor with 6 limbs. Evolution works by modifying existing structures, not producing ones out of nothing.

    • @joela6895
      @joela6895 4 роки тому +3

      BSKE C not true, new modifications can happen from nothing.

    • @joela6895
      @joela6895 4 роки тому +2

      Elephants are actually evolving not to have their tusks thanks to poachers

    • @garret1930
      @garret1930 4 роки тому +1

      @@joela6895 it's never from nothing, evolution tweaks and repurposed what is, and very rarely combines a number of smaller structures to create larger structures. Legs don't come from nowhere, they are repurposed from earlier uses, same with basically everything else. Evolution is supremely lazy, it will never create complex structures completely ex nihilo and will only change small things at a time.

  • @TheSenileSeal
    @TheSenileSeal 4 роки тому +6

    It’s so sad to think how elephants are hunted down for their tusks. At least they seem to be adapting to this.

  • @kaydenpat
    @kaydenpat 2 роки тому +1

    Never knew that tuskless elephants even existed. Interesting development.

  • @janjISMYname
    @janjISMYname 3 роки тому +2

    To witness evolution at play here, at an attempt to save these majestic animals, astonishing!

  • @red_doggo7219
    @red_doggo7219 4 роки тому +9

    This is a worthy battle mount.

  • @johngorno4552
    @johngorno4552 3 роки тому +9

    What happened to the Four Tusked Elephant that we were promised in the thumbnail?!

    • @curious5887
      @curious5887 2 роки тому +1

      He disclude Stegotetrabelodon, the elephant in the thumbnail, due to limited info on that genus

  • @adityakp9920
    @adityakp9920 Рік тому +1

    Intresting fact: The earliest mentioning of this creature was the Hindu epic of Ramayan. It is said that these elephants guarded the gates of Ravana's palace.

  • @richard7756
    @richard7756 2 роки тому +1

    Idk if it's already been said, but the fact that hunting is creating a scenario of selective breeding eliminating tusks is kinda interesting.

  • @GarryDKing
    @GarryDKing 4 роки тому +12

    tbh 4 tusked elephants look kinda wierd. I feel like elephants, like us, have evolutionary fashion trends. at one point it was trendy to have 4, but then the 2 tusks came in and proved to be better suited for life [and more appealing] so they went to having just 2. But because poachers target tusked elephants, they're now opting to just go tuskless.

    • @TheSynecdoche
      @TheSynecdoche 4 роки тому +1

      Opting isn't the appropriate word here. Being born tuskless looks like a gene fault which happens to do the elephant's survival chances a favour.

  • @raccontibestiali8441
    @raccontibestiali8441 4 роки тому +6

    Great video! I always found fascinating the evolutionary history of elephants!

  • @mrwisher1250
    @mrwisher1250 3 роки тому +1

    crazy that it took hundreds of thousands of year for elephants to lose their second pair of tusks but only like a few hundred years of human interference to make them lose all their tusks

  • @yueshijoorya601
    @yueshijoorya601 Рік тому +1

    I think the shovel jaws are heavy, so their heads usually hang low and point down. I have no doubt they drool considerably more, and losing moisture is bad in an ice age.

  • @hennaoctopus
    @hennaoctopus 4 роки тому +4

    I just want to hear this guy say "gumphotheres" forever

  • @I_leave_mean_comments
    @I_leave_mean_comments 4 роки тому +13

    You completely ignore sexual selection. It's likely sexual selection caused the differences... since we know that animals who live in groups and are fairly protected from predators tend to develop more extreme secondary sexual traits (mandrill, Irish Elk, peacock, etc).

    • @markuskuhn9006
      @markuskuhn9006 4 роки тому +2

      Probably both since genes can't be passed on if the animal they are from dies

  • @livacreative
    @livacreative 4 роки тому

    I love the fact that you used "Nils Frahm-Says" very subtle way❤️❤️

  • @rhodanosaurus
    @rhodanosaurus 2 роки тому

    That last bit about modern elephants starting to lose their tusks is so fascinating, we're seeing natural selection happen in front of our eyes!

  • @bellacutie25
    @bellacutie25 4 роки тому +8

    :( ivory poachers are impacting evolution.

    • @YTCensorshipFindTheCure
      @YTCensorshipFindTheCure 2 роки тому +1

      No China is impacting evolution by paying poachers to get ivory and other parts from animals.

  • @gobzanuff5078
    @gobzanuff5078 4 роки тому +8

    They look like predator in "Alien vs Predator"

  • @mjm3091
    @mjm3091 4 роки тому +1

    1:30 Can we agree on the fact that it is good that Gomphoteres didn't stay with us? That looks terrifying.

  • @user-ik9tv7mj2o
    @user-ik9tv7mj2o Рік тому +2

    Wow this is the elephant which is described by the lord Hanuman at Sundharakanda in Valmiki Ramayanam. 🕉️🙏🇮🇳

  • @bebos1262
    @bebos1262 4 роки тому +23

    Animal: *exists*
    China: 🤑

  • @GoLetItInGoBagItUp
    @GoLetItInGoBagItUp 4 роки тому +4

    Amazing channel. Thank you.

  • @aesthetichoarder8248
    @aesthetichoarder8248 Рік тому

    i just did my first work day of manual labour and man i am ACHING but these videos always relax me and make me feel better

  • @pastaman64
    @pastaman64 3 роки тому +1

    Everyone got pissed at them for using up all the tusks so they decided to only have 2 tusks like everyone else

  • @theamazingbatboy
    @theamazingbatboy 2 роки тому +3

    Best paleo-science channel on YT. You really feel the quiet awe and respect for evolution in every video.

  • @slappy8941
    @slappy8941 4 роки тому +6

    They were OP, and had to be nerfed.

    • @SpinexF7
      @SpinexF7 2 роки тому

      4 tusks would be too op for damage and don't forget confusion and fear debuffs towards non elephants

  • @AnUchiha
    @AnUchiha Рік тому +1

    4 Tusk Elephants existed that's for sure as these elephants are mentioned in Ramayan.

  • @headhonchotheone9041
    @headhonchotheone9041 3 роки тому +1

    The next elephants won't have tusks because of us human beings .

  • @alexwschan185
    @alexwschan185 4 роки тому +24

    I believe our rendition of the elephant's ancestors are too hideous, I mean give them some more lip muscle..., they look so gross and weird...

  • @Erufailon42
    @Erufailon42 4 роки тому +15

    I love these videos. But in this one I feel you are focusing a bit too much on what made two tusked elephants more fit than four tusked or lower tusked ones, while presenting little or no evidence (or even discussion) that they actually were more fit becuase of their tusks. :)

  • @cannerbernerd1836
    @cannerbernerd1836 4 роки тому +2

    The captions keep talking about “gum for thieves”, lol

  • @vociferonheraldofthewinter2284
    @vociferonheraldofthewinter2284 3 роки тому +2

    2:20 It's a lesser known fact that the Deinotherium coined the term, "Get off my lawn."