The researchers concluded that elephants can recognize and track as many as 30 of their companions. In 2007, researchers at the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland placed urine samples in front of female elephants at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya according to Scientific American, the elephants "acted up" when they smelled urine that didn't come from an elephant in their herd. Science has also proven that elephants have great memories. Proof of elephants' long memories lies in their behavior: When confronted with an unfamiliar elephant, matriarchs will huddle in defensive positions because they realize that those elephants could pose a threat to the herd's safety. When younger males in the group reach sexual maturity-usually around 14 years of age-they leave the herd to roam solo or occasionally form groups with other males. Each herd has a matriarchal structure, with one older female in charge. In the wild, an elephant’s memory is key to its survival-and its herd’s. They grieve over the bodies of dead herd members, and can even recognize their own reflections in a mirror. And, of course, there's that old saying: "Elephants never forget." While it may be an exaggeration, there's more truth to the adage than you might realize. The largest land mammals on earth, they show a wide range of behavioral and emotional patterns in their up-to-60-year lifespans.
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