In space an elephant ways

Elephants are the only remaining members of the Proboscidea order of mammals. The order included the extinct wooly mammoth and American mastodon.

Elephants are a "keystone species." If a keystone species disappears through extinction or removal, the entire ecosystem would change drastically. Other species rely on the keystone species for survival.

Today there are three surviving elephant species:

Asian elephant (Elephas Maximus)

African savanna elephant (Loxodonta Africana)

African forest elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis)

Among Asian elephants (Elephas Maximus), there are three subspecies: Indian, Sri Lankan, and Sumatran. These are distinguished by physical traits related to their geographic location. African savannah elephants (Loxodonta Africana) live in the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. African forest elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis) live in the Congo River Basin in western central Africa. Asian elephants live throughout southeastern Asia, from as far west as India to as far east as the Indonesian islands.