The three species of elephant alive today—the African savannah, African forest and Asian—are all that remain of a once large and magnificent family of animals. An early elephant was Moeritherium, a pig-sized animal that rooted around in North African swamps during the Eocene Epoch, 37 million years ago. As elephants evolved they tended to grow bigger. Their legs needed to be long and pillar-like to support their massive weight. At the same time, the elephants' mouths became further and further from the ground. To take up water and food, the animals needed longer and longer trunks.

First elephants

The first elephants were more like pygmy hippos than elephants. Although its trunk was only short and stubby, like that of a modern tapir, Moeritherium did have several elephant-like features: a long, low skull, strong neck muscles and tusks—a small pair on both upper and lower jaws. Living alongside Moeritherium was Palaeomastodon, the first mastodon, a forest browser, and a much larger animal. It had four tusks and a short, slightly flattened trunk.

Trunk and tusks

Gomphotherium, a large, long-tusked elephant, evolved around 13 million years ago. Its heavy head was supported by a short neck with powerful neck muscles. But it could only reach the ground to eat and drink by using its trunk. This long, flexible “arm” could pick up food and water and transfer both to its mouth. Gomphotherium had four tusks. It may have used them to forage for food.

The steppe mammoth lived in the middle of the Ice Ages, roaming across cold, bleak grasslands eating coarse grasses. It was the first elephant to develop a hairy coat. Its spiral tusks were 5 metres (16 feet) long. The steppe mammoth, which evolved around 1.5 million years ago, was the largest of all the mammoths.