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For this week’s EleFact, we’re looking at the differences between the brains of Asian elephants versus African elephants. We regularly talk about the significant difference between the two species, and now science has added another difference to the list. A recent study examined the brains of both zoo and wild elephants, finding that Asian elephants, though smaller than African elephants, have a 20% heavier brain than their African counterparts, and that the brains of each species triple in weight after birth. This might explain why elephants have such a long youth where they gain significant life experience and learn necessary social skills. 

The differences in weight between the species is significant: adult Asian female elephant brains weigh in at an average of 5,300 grams, versus the 4,400 grams of female African elephants. (The findings could not be conclusively confirmed for male elephants, who have much heavier brains.) However, the cerebellum is proportionally heavier in African elephants measuring at approximately 22% of the total brain weight, compared to 19% of total brain weight in Asian elephants. 

The brains of adult elephants are roughly 3 times as heavy as they were at birth, which shows significant brain growth during childhood. According to the study, “social factors and learning processes could explain the strong brain growth after birth, as elephants live in complex social structures and have an outstanding memory.” Herds rely on the recall of mature adults, especially matriarchs, to give guidance to the herd and care for the children through adolescence. 

This raises the question of whether this difference in cerebellum size accounts for the differences in behavior and motor skills between the species. The larger cerebellum in African elephants could be related to the more complex motor function of the trunk. The African elephant has two fingers on their trunk which allows for more diverse movements when compared to Asian elephants. There is still much to study, but this topic will likely be one of interest for elephant researchers. To read more information about the study, visit this link:

https://phys.org/news/2025-05-asian-elephants-larger-brains-african.html

Photo of Guille and her big brain