h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They can throw objects with the trunk, can't they? I don't think they're particularly accurate, but then neither's Monty Panesar.

They can fake a convincing tax return???

Congratulations minichessemouse I'll give you the points for that. They are the only animals except for humans that understand that it is themselves that they see when looking in a mirror!

Any more interesting facts about elephants?

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Do you have a link at all? If so, I am dearly sorry

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/monkeymirror/html/intro.html



B

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7570291.stm

Magpies can recognise themselves as well.

RF

Oh dear.

This is not good for my first post



Points for everyone who contradicted me.

Do we have to contradict you specifically about the elephants thing, or just contradict you generally?

B

Actually thats wrong...it's been proven that Ravens can recognise themselves in mirrors. In one experiment ravens with crumbs stuck to their breast were shown a mirror,and after a second staring at the mirror they proceded to preen themselves clean. So that trait is not exclusive to humans and elephants!

I've seen my pet cats recognising their own reflection too I'm afraid.

Although they did try and have fights with their own shadows for a while when they were small

Elephants cant jump because they have no knees.

Contradict me generally please

I'll work out some form of point allocation later. I stress though that I misadvised and I am not an ignoramous. I have learned a lot today

No you haven't!

Points please for contradicting.

B

Mu Beta +1

No I'm afraid this will disrupt the space time continuum of the QI score board.

do i still get my points?

QI fact about elephants...

Komodo dragons are thought to have evolved to prey on dwarf elephants which evolved on small islands on the Indonesian archipelago. Dwarfing is fairly common for mammals which find their way onto small islands, and particularly so for elephants (and dwarf people seem to have evolved on Flores too). Dwarf elephants have been found in Cyprus*, the Balearics, Malta, islands off the coasts of California and Siberia and other places I can't remember at the mo. Before the last ice age ended, there were over a dozen species of elephants and mammoths, on every continent except Oz and Antarctica.


*It's believed that elephant skulls, with their big nasal holes, inspired the legend of the cyclops.

I think the Sicilian dwarf elephant is one of the best known.

B

One of the pharoahs had a dwarf mammoth from Wrangel Island in Siberia. That was probably the best known in 3000BC.

Surely if humans and elephants share this mysterious characteristic then it cannot be unique?

No need to be pedantic. I think it's widely acknowledged that a Qimaster's life is not for me.