Elephants: More facial neurons than humans

A recent study has shown that the elephants they have many more facial neurons of us humans, because to control the trunk you need a lot of muscles. There is, in fact, a part of the brain dedicated to managing all of these muscles. German scientists examined the part of the elephant’s brain that controls vision and found that they have many more facial neurons than other mammals.

Eight elephants have been studied, four of them Asians and four Africans from savannah. The motor nucleus of all facial muscles has been examined, i.e. the part of brain which regulates i muscles of the sight. Some discoveries have been made, one of which is that elephants have more facial neurons than any other mammal. Exactly, six times as much as in humans. Because of this, elephants have a thorough control over the trunk and the rest of the snout.

The study made it possible to differ in the neurons between different types of elephants. Asians have a proboscis ending in a single finger that they use entirely for movement. Africans have two fingers and can use them independently trunk lift objects. The Asian elephant has fewer facial neurons than the African one and has smaller ears. More studies will be conducted in the future to understand more connections between the anatomy and brain of other animal species, especially large mammals.