A Comparison Of Social Organization In Asian Elephants And African Savannah Elephants. (2012)

Asian and African elephant species have diverged by ca. 6 million years, but as large, generalist herbivores they occupy similar niches in their respective environments. Although the multilevel, hierarchical nature of African savannah elephant societies is well established, it has been unclear whether Asian elephants behave similarly. Here we quantitatively compare the structure of both species’ societies using association data collected using the same protocol over similar time periods. Sociality in both species demonstrates well-defined structure, but in contrast to the African elephants of Samburu the Uda Walawe Asian elephants are found in smaller groups, do not maintain coherent core groups, demonstrate markedly less? ?social connectivity at the population level, and are socially less influenced by seasonal differences in ecological conditions.