African elephant vs

Loxodonta africana compared with Clitocybe subcordispora

Key Differences

African elephant is Vulnerable while is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Proboscidea (Elephants)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Tricholomataceae
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Clitocybe
Species	Loxodonta africana	Clitocybe subcordispora

Conservation Status

African elephant

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~415.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

DD — Data Deficient

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

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, 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.

Clitocybe subcordispora is a saprotrophic agaric fungus in the family Tricholomataceae, with the species epithet subcordispora likely referencing slightly heart-shaped or cordiform spores observed under microscopy, a feature useful in distinguishing it from other pale Clitocybe species. It inhabits temperate European forest floors, woodland margins, and grassy clearings, fruiting in autumn among leaf litter and humus. The fruiting body presents the characteristic Clitocybe form with a depressed to funnel-shaped pale cap, decurrent gills, and cylindrical stipe. Spore morphology is an important taxonomic character within this genus, and the slightly cordiform spore outline of C. subcordispora may reflect adaptation to specific dispersal modes or represent a plesiomorphic character within the clade. The species contributes to saprotrophic fungal diversity in European temperate forests, where dozens of Clitocybe species occupy slightly different ecological niches in the decomposition of leaf litter, woody debris, and soil organic matter, collectively driving the nutrient cycling processes essential to forest ecosystem function.