The secret behind the elephant’s trunk

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If no one had ever seen an elephant and if by chance the skull of an elephant appeared, scientists would probably not be able to deduce the existence of the most characteristic anatomical element of this animal: the deceived. The facial appendage is to the elephant what the long neck is to the giraffe, its trademark. And the way he uses it to perform different tasks, from uprooting tree trunks to gently uprooting the most fragile vegetation, is a spectacle in itself.

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How does the elephant manage to perform such versatile tasks with its trunk?

A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) suggests that these animals not only use their muscles to stretch their trunks, but the skin of their skin also plays an important role. The article is published this week in the scientific journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (PNAS).

Study lead author Andrew Schulz and his team filmed two African savannah elephants foraging for bran and apples at Zoo Atlanta. “When people extend their tongues, boneless tissue filled with muscle, similar in composition to an elephant’s trunk, stretches evenly. We expected the same when we challenged an elephant to find food. “Schulz said.

However, things did not turn out that way. “When we watched the images from our high-speed camera and followed the movements of the tube, we were surprised. The top and the bottom were not the same at all.”Schulz points out.

After watching the video, the researcher stretched the fabric of a stuffed elephant to better understand the elasticity of the skin. It was then that he discovered that the skin did not stretch evenly. The upper part of the tube is 15% softer than the lower part. And this asymmetrical stretching is due in part to differences in the wrinkle patterns of the skin. When reaching for food or objects, the dorsal part of the trunk slides forward more.

“The soft folds of skin are the elephant’s innovation”says David Hu, an adviser to Schulz and a professor at the Woodruff School and the School of Biological Sciences. “They protect the dorsal part and allow the elephant to bend more easily, the most common gripping style when picking up objects”.

like an umbrella

The study also found that an elephant’s trunk differs from other boneless, muscle-filled appendages found in nature, such as the tentacles of squid and octopus. Instead of spreading out evenly, an elephant telescopes its trunk like an umbrella, gradually lengthening out in waves.

An elephant first extends the section that includes the tip of its trunk, then the adjoining section, and so on, gradually moving back towards its body. For Schulz, the progressive downward movement is intentional.

“Elephants are like people: they are lazy”He says. “The section at the end of the tube is 1 liter of muscle. The section closest to the mouth contains 11-15 liters of muscle. An elephant will first stretch the end of the trunk and then the adjacent section, as they are easier to move. If an elephant doesn’t have to work very hard to achieve something, it won’t do it.”.

As a mechanical engineer, Schulz also sees applications for these discoveries in robotics, which today are usually designed for high strength or flexibility. Unlike an elephant’s trunk, machines cannot do both. “Soft robotics created with bio-inspired design is always based on muscle movement. If they were wrapped in a protective skin, like the muscular trunk of an elephant, the machines could apply greater forces.”he rocks.

Character font: JUDITH DE JORGE / ABC

Reference article: https://www.abc.es/ciencia/secreto-trompa-elefante-20220719133021-nt.html

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