6 posts · 2,552 views
Stories of the life and times of Asian elephants at Uda Walawe National Park, Sri Lanka. Asian elephant behavior, conservation, and news.
Shermin de Silva
6 posts
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- March 6, 2012
- 10:00 PM
- 120 views
Trackways freeze time to reveal ancient elephant sociality
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
Stunning find showing ancestors of elephants exhibited social system strikingly similar to their modern day counterparts.... Read more »
Bibi, F., Kraatz, B., Craig, N., Beech, M., Schuster, M., & Hill, A. (2012) Early evidence for complex social structure in Proboscidea from a late Miocene trackway site in the United Arab Emirates. Biology Letters. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.1185
- February 11, 2012
- 02:00 PM
- 144 views
If you've seen one elephant, have you seen them all?
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
A side-by-side comparison of Asian and African elephant societies shows that the two species are not as similar as one might think, overturning decades of popular depictions of elephants which paint the two species as identical.... Read more »
Eggert, L., Rasner, C., & Woodruff, D. (2002) The evolution and phylogeography of the African elephant inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence and nuclear microsatellite markers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 269(1504), 1993-2006. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2002.2070
Wildman, D. (2003) Implications of natural selection in shaping 99.4% nonsynonymous DNA identity between humans and chimpanzees: Enlarging genus Homo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(12), 7181-7188. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1232172100
de Silva, S., Ranjeewa, A., & Kryazhimskiy, S. (2011) The dynamics of social networks among female Asian elephants. BMC Ecology, 11(1), 17. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6785-11-17
de Silva, S., & Wittemyer, G. (2012) A Comparison of Social Organization in Asian Elephants and African Savannah Elephants. International Journal of Primatology. DOI: 10.1007/s10764-011-9564-1
- September 1, 2011
- 03:30 PM
- 518 views
The Social Lives of Asian Elephants
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
Female Asian elephants maintain an ever-changing network of social relationships that is far more complex than previously believed.... Read more »
Douglas-Hamilton, I. (1972) On the ecology and behaviour of the African elephant. Oxford University. info:/
WITTEMYER, G., DOUGLASHAMILTON, I., & GETZ, W. (2005) The socioecology of elephants: analysis of the processes creating multitiered social structures. Animal Behaviour, 69(6), 1357-1371. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.08.018
de Silva S, Ranjeewa AD, & Kryazhimskiy S. (2011) The dynamics of social networks among female Asian elephants. BMC ecology, 17. PMID: 21794147
Vidya, T., & Sukumar, R. (2005) Social organization of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in southern India inferred from microsatellite DNA. Journal of Ethology, 23(2), 205-210. DOI: 10.1007/s10164-005-0144-8
- March 7, 2011
- 08:22 AM
- 729 views
Lending A Helping Trunk
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
Asian elephants join the short list of species demonstrating the ability to comprehend and conquer a cooperative problem-solving task.... Read more »
Joshua M. Plotnik, Richard Lair, Wirot Suphachoksahakun, and Frans B. M. de Waal,. (2011) Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task. Proceedings Of The National Academy of Sciences. info:/10.1073/pnas.1101765108
Seed, A., Clayton, N., & Emery, N. (2008) Cooperative problem solving in rooks (Corvus frugilegus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275(1641), 1421-1429. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0111
Hirata, S., & Fuwa, K. (2006) Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) learn to act with other individuals in a cooperative task. Primates, 48(1), 13-21. DOI: 10.1007/s10329-006-0022-1
- January 19, 2011
- 05:00 PM
- 523 views
The Elephant's Chirp
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
This is about one of those moments every scientist lives for: discovery. A new and mysterious elephant call, so soft and rare it barely registers conscious notice. To what end? No one knows.... Read more »
de Silva, S. (2010) Acoustic communication in the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus maximus. Behaviour, 147(7), 825-852. DOI: 10.1163/000579510X495762
- November 30, 1999
- 12:00 AM
- 518 views
Water For Elephants...In The Wild
by Shermin de Silva in Elephants of Uda Walawe
Elephants' water requirements may provide the key to detecting them in areas that are difficult to census.... Read more »
Pastorini,J., Nishantha, H.G., Janaka, H.K., Isler, K., & Fernando, P. (2010) Jennifer Pastorini, H.G. Nishantha, H.K. Janaka, Karin Isler, . Tropical Conservation Science, 3(4), 412-422. info:/
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