One planet News: Secrets of an elephant's trunk

Wild Insights explores the trunk's dexterity

Photo by Geranimo on Unsplash

Wild Insights

By Annette J Beveridge

An elephant’s trunk is one of the most extraordinary organs in the animal kingdom and is a muscular marvel providing incredible dexterity and strength. It is part nose, hand, and tool and plays a vital role in feeding, drinking, communication, and even expressing emotion.

But what makes this appendage so powerful and flexible?

Anatomy of the Trunk

The elephant’s trunk is essentially a fusion of its upper lip and nose, elongated over millions of years of evolution. There are no bones but it is packed with 40,000 to 60,000 individual muscles.

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These are grouped into muscle fascicles (bundles). As a comparison, the entire human body has around 600 muscles.

The muscles of the trunk are primarily longitudinal, radial, and circular in arrangement and this combination allows the trunk to move in virtually any direction, curl around objects, and perform both delicate and forceful actions.