African elephant vs

Loxodonta africana compared with Chrysochromulina apheles

Key Differences

• African elephant is Vulnerable while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Chromista (Chromista)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Haptophyta (Haptophyta)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Prymnesiophyceae (Prymnesiophyceae)
Order	Proboscidea (Elephants)	Prymnesiales (Prymnesiales)
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Chrysochromulinaceae
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Chrysochromulina
Species	Loxodonta africana	Chrysochromulina apheles

Conservation Status

African elephant

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~415.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African elephant
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	65 years	—
Average Length	6.0 m	—
Average Weight	6.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

African elephant

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Habitat

Native to Europe and South America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Brazil, Norway, and Sweden.

African elephant

The largest land animal on Earth, African elephants can reach 7,000 kg and inhabit sub-Saharan savannas, forests, and wetlands. Highly intelligent with complex social structures led by matriarchs, they communicate through infrasound, rumbles, and touch. As ecosystem engineers, they shape habitats by uprooting trees, digging waterholes, and dispersing seeds. Vulnerable, with populations declining due to ivory poaching and habitat loss.

Chrysochromulina apheles is a marine haptophyte microalga in the genus Chrysochromulina, family Chrysochromulinaceae, class Prymnesiophyceae. Members of this genus are distinguished by their coiling haptonema, two flagella of approximately equal length, and a covering of organic scales on the cell surface — features used extensively in species identification through electron microscopy. C. apheles inhabits coastal marine environments and has been recorded from Norwegian and Swedish waters, regions where intensive phycological surveys during the late twentieth century yielded numerous new haptophyte species descriptions. These subarctic and temperate Atlantic coastal waters sustain diverse nanoplankton communities in which Chrysochromulina species are frequently abundant components. The epithet apheles derives from Greek, referencing a morphological characteristic of the cell or scale structure. As a phytoplankton organism, C. apheles participates in primary production, converting inorganic carbon to organic matter through photosynthesis, and may also engage in phagotrophy of bacterial cells. Some Chrysochromulina species produce polyunsaturated fatty acids and occasionally bioactive compounds. The taxon has not been evaluated under IUCN criteria and carries a conservation status of Not Evaluated, reflecting the general challenge of assessing extinction risk in free-living marine microalgae whose populations are cosmopolitan and difficult to census. Understanding the ecology and distribution of species like C. apheles contributes to knowledge of marine microbial diversity and the functioning of pelagic food webs in northern Atlantic ecosystems.