The Elephant Ethogram is a uniquely detailed catalogue of the behavior and communication of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). It is based on decades of ElephantVoices behavioral studies, photographs, audio and video recordings, the referenced research of other elephant biologists, as well as professional and amateur footage made available to ElephantVoices.
The Elephant Ethogram consists of written and referenced descriptions, video examples, and, where relevant, audio recordings, of 322 Behaviors, 103 Behavioral Constellations and 23 Behavioral Contexts. There are close to 3,000 media files in the fully searchable Elephant Ethogram including 2,408 video clips (18 August 2021). Video and audio are hosted on Vimeo and SoundCloud, respectively.
An ethogram is a comprehensive list, inventory, catalogue or description of the behaviors or actions exhibited by a species. It is a library, or master list, of all known behaviors for a species that describes the characteristics and, where possible, the function of each behavior. The word ethogram comes from the words “etho,” meaning the characteristic and distinguishing attitudes, habits, beliefs, etc. of an individual or group, and “gram,” meaning to write down or record.
African savanna elephants are among the most socially complex non-human species on our planet, but their lives and behavior are increasingly impacted by humans. The Elephant Ethogram aims to document the rich behavior and communication of this species, including rare, novel and idiosyncratic behavior, and those acquired, through social learning, in response to rapidly increasing anthropogenic threats. We intend The Elephant Ethogram to be a repository for scientific study and comparison, and to inspire broader interest in elephant behavior, conservation and welfare.
We have included some illustrations of postures and gestures associated with a number of common elephant calls. These are from a National Geographic article about our work, What Elephant Calls Mean: A User’s Guide, by Christy Ullrich Barcus. The article also contains audio of the calls.
A Behavior is a unique movement or action in response to a particular situation or stimulus, while a Constellation is a suite of Behaviors that typically occur together. A Context refers to the circumstances or setting in which a behavior takes place.
All Behaviors and Constellations are documented with written and referenced descriptions, and one or more video examples. Vocalizations may be documented by audio recordings instead of, or in addition to, video.
Here is an example of a Behavior:
Here is an example of a Constellation:
Each video and audio file includes a detailed annotation describing the context, individuals present, signaler(s) and recipient(s), and their respective actions and behavior. Each video is labeled with the Behavior/Constellation it is intended to illustrate. To focus your attention on the correct individual, body part, or action, a circle may appear at the start of the particular behavior illustrated and, in many cases, will remain for the duration of the action. In cases where the change in behavior is very subtle, such as Listening, closed circles may appear next to the label as the behavior begins and remain until the behavior ends.
Videos that illustrate vocalizations include a sound icon after the label. In some cases the icon appears only as the elephant vocalizes, otherwise the vocalizing elephants are circled, unless the caller is obvious.
There are three Search Functions on the Ethogram Library that return Behaviors and Constellations matching the search. Click on a linked Behavior or Constellation to read its description and to view the annotated video and/or audio examples. The number of video examples of each Behavior or Constellation across all Contexts is given in parentheses.
The Filter option allows you to select from one or more dropdown alternatives to find Behaviors or Behavioral Constellations of interest. You may select by: behavioral context; age and gender; part of the body that is actively used; primary mode of communication; and/or sounds of elephants. Under age/sex you may also search for Behaviors and Constellations that are typical of musth males or estrous females.
The Free Text Search returns Behaviors or Constellations with the word in its name or description or with the word in one of its video captions. So, for example, if you search on musth with the term "musth" in the name or description will be returned. If you know some of the Amboseli, Mara or Gorongosa elephants by name you can find videos that depict them by entering their name in the search.
The third option is the Alphabetical Search. Clicking on a letter lists all Behaviors and Constellations starting with that letter.
If you are particularly interested in vocalizations and other sounds made by elephants there are multiple options to choose from under Sounds of Elephants within the Filter. Selecting Laryngeal calls, Trunk calls, Combination calls and/or Novel and Idiosyncratic sounds will return Behaviors that are sounds or Constellations that include sounds purposefully produced by elephants moving air over the larynx or through the nasal passages.
Selecting "Other acoustic signals" returns signals that have an acoustic component, but are produced by movement of parts of the body (e.g., Ear-Slapping, Ear-Flap-Slide), or by an elephant's interaction with its environment (e.g., Foot-Scuffing, Kick-Dust) in response to a specific stimulus and that hold specific meaning. "Other sounds" returns Behaviors or Constellations that include sounds made by elephants in the course of their movement or activities in their environment, that are not signals, but that hold cues for listeners about that individual's behavior (e.g., Scrub-off-Thorns, Drinking, Mud-Splashing).
The Elephant Ethogram includes a page dedicated to each Behavior and Constellation. A written and referenced description is followed by video and/or audio examples of the behavior in particular Contexts. Many of the audio examples are documented with a spectrogram linked in the caption.
Each video and audio file includes a detailed annotation describing the context, individuals present, their behaviors, the signaler(s) or actor(s), and the recipient(s), if relevant. Each video is labeled with the Behavior/Constellation it is intended to illustrate. To help the user focus attention on the correct individual, body part, or action, a circle may appear at the start of the particular behavior illustrated and, in many cases, will remain for the duration of the action. In cases where the change in behavior is very subtle, such as 'Listening', closed circles may appear next to the label as the behavior begins and remain until the behavior ends. In some cases the Behavior is replayed in slow-motion at the end of the clip.
Videos that illustrate vocalizations include a sound icon after the label. In some cases the icon appears only as the elephant vocalizes, otherwise the vocalizing elephants are circled, unless the caller is obvious. Elephant vocalizations are also documented with annotated audio recordings, as mentioned above.
The largest video and audio library of elephant behaviors.