whether it’s swimming splashing or
rolling around in the mud
there’s nothing an elephant loves more
than bath time this elephant water part
isn’t just for fun though
temperatures in the hot African savannah
average around 85 degrees Fahrenheit but
staying cool is no problem for elephants
thanks to millions of microscopic cracks
in their skin
how do elephants get their cracks and
why does it help them beat the heat the
African elephant is the largest living
land animal in the world it can grow up
to 13 feet high and weigh up to 7 tons
its outer skin layer is about 50 times
as thick as a human’s but unlike many
mammals elephants don’t sweat they
control much of their body temperature
through evaporative cooling which
requires the wedding of the skin through
regular bathing and spraying elephants
can store up to two and a half gallons
of water in their trunk at a time they
use their amazing sense of smell to find
water from miles away even when it’s
inside a tree or below ground unlike
humans elephants don’t shed their dead
skin
when baby elephants are born their skin
is covered in tiny protrusions called
papillae these are similar to the small
kinds of bumps that are found on the
human tongue as they get older their
skin cells build up thicker and thicker
over the dermis eventually these
accumulated layers start to fanned under
pressure causing eep cracks to form in
between the papillae water then flows
through the crevices using capillary
action which is the same force that
allows plant roots to soak up water from
the soil this process transforms the
skin surface into an intricate network
of channels as a result elephant skin
can hold up to ten times more water than
a smooth surface their fractured skin
also helps to keep mud and dust from
sliding off like an all-natural sunblock
helping to protect elephants from
sunburn and parasites there is still
more to learn about the unique ways that
elephants have adapted to beat the heat
and scientists hope that understanding
elephant skin could even help to improve
treatments for human skin conditions
you [Music]
rolling around in the mud
there’s nothing an elephant loves more
than bath time this elephant water part
isn’t just for fun though
temperatures in the hot African savannah
average around 85 degrees Fahrenheit but
staying cool is no problem for elephants
thanks to millions of microscopic cracks
in their skin
how do elephants get their cracks and
why does it help them beat the heat the
African elephant is the largest living
land animal in the world it can grow up
to 13 feet high and weigh up to 7 tons
its outer skin layer is about 50 times
as thick as a human’s but unlike many
mammals elephants don’t sweat they
control much of their body temperature
through evaporative cooling which
requires the wedding of the skin through
regular bathing and spraying elephants
can store up to two and a half gallons
of water in their trunk at a time they
use their amazing sense of smell to find
water from miles away even when it’s
inside a tree or below ground unlike
humans elephants don’t shed their dead
skin
when baby elephants are born their skin
is covered in tiny protrusions called
papillae these are similar to the small
kinds of bumps that are found on the
human tongue as they get older their
skin cells build up thicker and thicker
over the dermis eventually these
accumulated layers start to fanned under
pressure causing eep cracks to form in
between the papillae water then flows
through the crevices using capillary
action which is the same force that
allows plant roots to soak up water from
the soil this process transforms the
skin surface into an intricate network
of channels as a result elephant skin
can hold up to ten times more water than
a smooth surface their fractured skin
also helps to keep mud and dust from
sliding off like an all-natural sunblock
helping to protect elephants from
sunburn and parasites there is still
more to learn about the unique ways that
elephants have adapted to beat the heat
and scientists hope that understanding
elephant skin could even help to improve
treatments for human skin conditions
you [Music]
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