What Is The Difference Between The African Elephant And The Asian Elephant?

Found on the African continent, the African elephant is the largest land living animal and, the male African elephant can weigh as much as fifteen thousand four hundred pounds.  The female African elephant is considerably smaller than the male and has been recorded with a weight of, roughly, twelve thousand one hundred to thirteen thousand two hundred pounds.  The African elephant has very large ears, similar in shape to the African continent, and both the male and female African elephants have tusks.  Although their numbers are falling, the African elephant is not considered endangered but, rather, threatened.  The Asian elephant, once referred to as the Indian elephant, is found on the Indian subcontinent and southeastern Asia.  Smaller than its' African cousin, the Asian elephant also has smaller ears, similar in shape to the subcontinent of India, and only the male has tusks.  The Asian elephant has more hair than the African elephant and, with numbers dropping dramatically, the Asian elephant is, sadly, considered endangered.  

African elephants Asian elephant


    
Weight 4000 - 7000 kg 3000 - 6000 kg
Shoulder height 3 - 4 Meter 2 - 3.5 Meter
Skin More wrinkled Smoother
Number of ribs Up to 21 pairs Up to 20 pairs
Highest point On the shoulder On the back
Size of the ears Bigger,
reach up over the neck Smaller,
do not reach over the neck
Shape of the back Concave Convex or straight
Shape of the belly Diagonally downward in the direction of the hind legs Either almost straight or sagging in the middle
Shape of the head Not crumpled from the front to the back, no humped structures, no dent Crumpled from the front to the back, with humped structures on the top of the head, forehead dented

For one the asian elephant has a darker skin tone and there are other visible differences