Elephants and Giant Memory: What the Science Can Prove

African bush elephant walking across open grassland — An African bush elephant. Matriarchs carry decades of memory about water and routes. Photo: Giles Laurent — CC BY-SA 4.0

An elephant brain weighs about five kilograms and holds some 257 billion neurons. Field studies show matriarchs recognising decades-old calls and leading families to water they last visited years ago.

Asian elephant in forest with calf — Asian elephants share the same social memory, on a smaller frame. Photo: Yathin S Krishnappa — CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photography credits: Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons