Why elephants are much more expressive than humans

WE might imagine that feelings like empathy or facial expressiveness are unique to human beings. But this is far from being the case, as they can also be found in animals. Researchers in Germany recently discovered that elephants have many more facial neurons than we do, making them potentially more expressive.

Lena V. Kaufmann and her colleagues at the Humboldt University of Berlin investigated the nervous system of the pachyderms in a study published on October 26 in the journal Science Advances. They explain that the neurons in the facial nucleus of these animals are more numerous than those of other land mammals.

Elephants have more than 50,000 neurons in this region of the brain, which plays a very special role. Indeed, the nerve cells that compose it are in action when we smile, wrinkle our nose or raise our eyebrows. Surprising as it may seem, the human being has only 8,000 to 9,000 of them. That's 10 times less than dolphins, which have 85,000 neurons in that nucelus.

This profusion of nerve cells in the elephant's facial nucleus contributes to the dexterity of the trunk. The trunk is a very versatile appendage, containing about 150,000 muscles and tendons. It is strong enough to uproot a tree, but so gentle that the pachyderms can pick up objects as fragile as a corn chip.

But not all elephants use it in the same way. African elephants have two finger-like appendages at the end of their trunks that allow them to grasp objects by pinching them. A bit like we would with chopsticks. Meanwhile, their Asian cousins have only one, which leads them to wrap their trunk around what they want to grab.

The German researchers noted that these differences are, in part, related to the neural networks of the two species. African and Asian elephants have 63,000 and 54,000 nerve cells respectively, in their facial nucleus. Another difference, and not the least, is that African elephants allocate about 12,000 facial neurons to the control of their ears alone. And for good reason, they are much larger than those of their Asian counterparts. It is therefore not surprising that the latter use "only" 7,500 nerve cells to move them.

And while this figure may seem comparatively small, bear in mind that only 3,000 neurons are necessary for the functioning of the entire human face. All of which goes to show that we might not be as expressive as we like to think.