Class: MAMMALIA

Order: PROBOSCIDEA

Family: ELEPHANTIDAE

For years, it was believed that only two elephant species existed, until the Forest Elephant was described as its own species in 2000. African and Asian Elephants are not typically capable of hybridisation - the only known hybrid, an elephant named 'Motty', lived only for 10 or so days after birth.

This order of mammals contains the largest land-animals on Earth. There are three known living species of Elephants - The genus Elephas contains the one species of Asian Elephant, which once occurred throughout much of Asia and also some of Asia Minor, though today this range is much fragmented. The genus Loxodonta contains the two species of African Elephant - one of which lives on open savannah, the other, smaller species living in forest. In all, the Asian Elephant is dwarfed by both African species.