African Elephants are a keystone species in their ecosystem, the savannah grassland, because they influence many other organisms and without elephants, some organisms would not survive because they rely on them. A keystone species is a species that define an entire ecosystem, and without them, it could cease to exist altogether. The elephant’s consumption of plants helps control the physical and biological aspects of the savannah.
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Elephants have a special quality that makes it hard for them to develop cancerous cells. Due to this elephants very rarely get cancer. This genetic information is stored in the chemical structure of DNA. The DNA is found in the nucleus of the elephant’s cells. The DNA is a nucleic acid that contains genetic information for organisms to be able to function and develop. DNA is makeup of a sugar and phosphate backbone and 4 bases of adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. The genes are the blueprints for a specific protein. This information is tightly wound into chromosomes.
This genetic information is translated within the system through cell division, then transcription and finally translation. The cells divide through mitosis, then those duplicated cells go through transcription where the DNA sequence of the gene is rewritten in the form of RNA, and it makes messenger RNA. Then that mRNA goes through translation where it is decoded to build a protein and contains a specific series of amino acids.
The genetic information for a system is passed on through the chromosomes that contain the genes that get passed down from parent to offspring. This happens when the genetic information is replicated before cell division then it is doubled. After sexual reproduction the parents pass down one set of the chromosomes containing the genetic information and therefore inherited by the offspring. This happens again from the offspring into the next generation and the genes persist over time.
If the African elephant needs water to live, then it evolved tusks to dig for water during the dry season. Through natural selection, only animals who could retain water well or find water could live during the harsh dry seasons of the savannah. This trait of large tusks evolved over time when the elephants with the mutation of a larger tusk survived because they could find water, so the elephants with large tusks reproduced, passing down their genes and making more elephants with large tusks until it evolved into all African elephants.
In the future elephants, are supposed to evolve without their tusks because humans are poaching them to use the ivory. This will impact elephants because they will not be able to use their tusks to dig up water and will have no source of water; this will make them die of dehydration. Without water, the elephants will not be able to maintain homeostasis, which they need to be alive because their water levels will be too low. Elephants with the genetic mutation of having no tusks have survived because the poachers don’t kill them, so those elephants survive and reproduce without tusks. Eventually, all elephants will evolve to not have tusks.
The energy in this system is needed in the producers and consumers, the plants and the elephants need the energy to live. The plants, like the Balanite tree, get energy from the sun and uses photosynthesis to convert the light energy into chemical energy that it uses to carry out its processes.
The elephant eats the tree and uses its energy to carry out its own processes. They need this energy so that they can move, reproduce, make proteins, go through their cellular processes because, without energy, organisms cannot do any of these things which need to occur in order for organisms to be alive.
In the ecosystem of the savannah, several organisms are dependent upon the African elephant for their supply of water, the paths they walk through as the elephant’s clear shrubs when they eat. This also allows new plants to grow in the cleared area. The Balanite tree is a tree native to Africa is solely dependent upon the African elephant to disperse its seeds through their dung.
Without the elephants to disperse the seeds, the trees would never grow outside of one area. The elephant also benefits by eating part of the tree for food. The Balanite trees are used by the people in Africa for their wood and for food during famine. So, without the elephants, the people would suffer.
The structure of elephants large ears allows them to stay cool during hot temperatures. Inside of the elephant’s ears is small blood vessels that are close to the surface of the skin. When the elephant flaps its ears, it creates a breeze that cools down their blood supply. This can cool down their body temperature about three degrees Celsius.
The structure of the large ears helps the elephant to function by allowing it to stay cool in the hot savannah. Elephants must be able to cool themselves down in order to maintain homeostasis, which they need to be living. Without a way to cool down, the elephant could overheat and die because the summers in the savannah where they live can get up to 20-30 degrees Celsius.
African Elephants 