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Description
This is the elephant that I have been most eager to show you all, as my fascination with it was the main drive behind my poster project. I realised that few people know that there are actually three species of elephant. Did you know this?

Although superficially similar, the two African species differ greatly in size, appearance and habitat. The bush elephant is the larger and more common of the two (see my previous post), while the smaller forest elephant (shown here) is restricted to the Congo Basin area. They were first recognized as distinct species in 2010 following genetic studies which indicated a separation of about 2-7 million years. Further DNA sequencing found that the forest elephant was more closely related to the extinct European straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) than it was to the bush elephant.

So how do you identify a forest elephant? Often they have rounded ears, darker skin, straighter downward-pointing tusks, narrower jaws, and are shorter than the other elephant species. Shown side-by-side in my elephant poster (coming soon) I hope that the differences between them will be obvious.

Media: Winsor & Newton gouache, Polychromos pencil, Fabriano watercolor paper.
Original painting for sale at my Etsy store: Click here
Instagram | Facebook

More elephants:

Description
This is the elephant that I have been most eager to show you all, as my fascination with it was the main drive behind my poster project. I realised that few people know that there are actually three species of elephant. Did you know this?

Although superficially similar, the two African species differ greatly in size, appearance and habitat. The bush elephant is the larger and more common of the two (see my previous post), while the smaller forest elephant (shown here) is restricted to the Congo Basin area. They were first recognized as distinct species in 2010 following genetic studies which indicated a separation of about 2-7 million years. Further DNA sequencing found that the forest elephant was more closely related to the extinct European straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) than it was to the bush elephant.

So how do you identify a forest elephant? Often they have rounded ears, darker skin, straighter downward-pointing tusks, narrower jaws, and are shorter than the other elephant species. Shown side-by-side in my elephant poster (coming soon) I hope that the differences between them will be obvious.

Media: Winsor & Newton gouache, Polychromos pencil, Fabriano watercolor paper.
Original painting for sale at my Etsy store: Click here
Instagram | Facebook

More elephants: