News Animals

Newly recognized tricks help elephants suck up huge amounts of water

Water moves through a pachyderm’s trunk at the rate of flow of 24 shower heads

an elephant takes a drink from a lake

African elephants can expand their nostrils while snorting up water, a previously unrecognized trick that boosts their trunk’s carrying capacity.

StuPorts/istock/getty images plus

By Sid Perkins

- More than 2 years ago

Read another version of this article at Science News Explores

Whether or not it’s possible to teach an old elephant new tricks, a 34-year-old pachyderm at Zoo Atlanta has recently taught researchers a thing or two about how elephants suck up food and water with their trunks.