Download Organism Project

Organism Project
Asian Elephant
Abby-Rose Mannes
Asian Elephant
Introduction
I will be doing my Organism research project on the Asian Elephant, the Asian Elephants scientific name is Elephas Maximus.
Elephas Maximus meaning Elephant Largest. They usually live in blocks of forests near water sources or in grasslands. The
Asian elephant lives in different parts of Asia; India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos,
Malaysia, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Habitat
The Asian Elephant usually live in blocks of forests near water sources or in grasslands. The Asian elephant lives in different
parts of Asia; India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal and Bangladesh. The
Asian Elephant needs to live in a place where food is accessible easily.
Changing Habitats
The Asian Elephant’s habitat can change at any time, but this mainly only happens when there are human intruders invading
their environment. They are usually there to cut down trees or remove vegetation in the animal’s environment. When this
happens the elephant’s have nothing left to eat or have nowhere for shelter so they are forced to move forward to another
place.
Ecosystems and Biomes
My animal is from Asia, where the elephant lives in Asia it is usually fairly warm, seeing as though it is a tropical area. The Asian
Elephant lives in blocks of humid forests near water sources and other animals that use these resources too. It does need to live in an
area where food is closely accessible. The Asian Elephant lives in a tropical environment where it is obviously usually pretty hot and
humid, but in some places where they live it can get slightly colder than the typical tropical climate. The temperature doesn’t vary too
much and seasons can be differed by the condensation of the air. In that area there is about 60 - 100 inches of rain each year.
Ecosystems and Biomes
The different ecosystems that exist in the Asian Elephants biome include the trees in the forest, the soil from the earth, underneath the
rocks on the forest floor, logs and fallen branches can inhabit small mammals and insects. The biotic factors that live within the Asian
Elephant biome are tigers, birds, snakes and other reptiles, bears, orangutans, monkeys, bats, trees and plants, and many different types
of insects. Abiotic factors that are seen in the Asian Elephants biome are soil, water, air and sunlight. The interactions within the biome
are seen when the elephant eats the trees and plants of the biome. Animals in the ecosystem depend on plants for food, and even for
the reduction of pests. Pollination is an important relationship between plants and animals as pollinators like bees help to spread seeds
for reproduction.
Food Chains and Webs
A food chain shows what the animals eat in order. The elephant gets energy from the grass and vegetation,
the grass gets energy from the sun. The grown elephants only real predator is a human. But young elephants
are prey to many lions, tigers and hyenas.
Dichotomous Key
A Dichotomous key is a
tool used to identify
organisms through a series
of choices that leads to the
correct name of an
organism.
Asian Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Fruit Dove, Proboscis
Monkey, King Cobra and the Orangutan are the animals
used in this Dichotomous Key.
Taxonomy
We group organisms that live on earth for many reasons; helping to give identification, making the study of animals
easier when classified, revealing relationships between certain animals, giving genetic information, evolutionary
process and their ancestry to just name a few. There are seven steps to grouping an organism; Kingdom, Phylum,
Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species.
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Mammalia
Order - Proboscidea
Family - Elephantidae
Genus - Elephas
Species - Elephas Maximus
Asian Elephant
Taxonomy
This is my way to remember the taxonomy list:
Kingdom - Kids
Phylum - Prepare
Class - Cakes
Order - On
Family - Friday
Genus - Gone
Species - Sunday
Conservation Status
The Asian Elephants are clearly endangered thanks to humans. There are
a couple of main reasons why elephants are endangered; illegal killing of
them and the destruction of their habitat. Most elephants are illegally
killed to take their ivory tusks. The tusks are sold for a lot of money. The
elephants are killed, their tusks removed and their bodies left to rot.
MRS GREN
MRS GREN stands for the movement, respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion and nutrition of an organism. The Asian
Elephant is a type of elephant that lives in Asia, it moves itself around to get to other elephants and to get food. It also breathes the
oxygen around it to respire. The elephant is sensitive to where it lives but also has to move around a lot due to the fact that people are
chopping away the trees where they live. The elephant is usually fully grown by the time it is 19 months old. The female elephant will
usually start to have calfs by the time she is 8 - 13 years of age. The elephant excretes on the ground of wherever they are. The elephant
usually eats a lot of trees and vegetation.
MRS GREN
M - yes
moves around daily to retrieve food.
R - yes
breathes through their lungs to stay alive.
S - yes
sensitive to noises and sounds around them, touch also.
G - yes
fully grown by the age of 19 months.
R - yes
reproduces by the age of 8.
E - yes
excretes on earth around them.
N - yes
eats trees and vegetation for nutrients.
Classification
My animal, the Asian ELephant is under the classification of a mammal, because it gives birth to live young, have lungs and
need air to breathe, have ears and are warm-blooded. The Asian Elephant lives on land and eats the vegetation grown there,
The elephant is the heaviest mammal and animal on land. My animal is a vertebrate, which means that it has a back-bone
inside of it’s body.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Asian Elephant is one of the biggest creatures still walking on land today, they live of the vegetation in
their habitat which is the deep in the dense jungles of Asia. The elephant uses air to breathe through their lungs and give
birth to live young, these things make the Asian Elephant a mammal. The Asian Elephant’s scientific name is Elephas
Maximus which quite literally translates into largest elephant. The Asian Elephant is quite used to tropical weather living in
the jungle. In the jungle the elephant has to live with many different types of animals but the really aren’t prey to anything
other than humans that hunt them for their skin and tusks. But baby elephants are prey to different types of lions, tigers and
hyenas.
The elephant is an endangered species and hopefully now that you know more about it, hopefully you can help save it.
Bibliography
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[Accessed 12 Aug. 2016].
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[Accessed 18 Aug. 2016].
Nationalzoo.si.edu. (2016). Asian Elephants - National Zoo. [online] Available at:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/asianelephants/factasianelephant.cfm [Accessed 9 Aug. 2016].
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http://www.livescience.com/27320-elephants.html [Accessed 2 Aug. 2016].
Society, N. (2016). Asian Elephants, Asian Elephant Pictures, Asian Elephant Facts - National Geographic. [online] National Geographic.
Available at: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/asian-elephant/ [Accessed 12 Aug. 2016].
Wwf.panda.org. (2016). Asian elephants. [online] Available at:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/asian_elephants/ [Accessed 6 Aug. 2016].