African elephant vs

Loxodonta africana compared with Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum

Key Differences

African elephant is Vulnerable while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant
Kingdom	Animalia (สัตว์)	Bacteria (Bacteria)
Phylum	Chordata (สัตว์มีแกนสันหลัง)	Cyanobacteria (สาหร่ายสีเขียวแกมน้ำเงิน)
Class	Mammalia (สัตว์เลี้ยงลูกด้วยน้ำนม)	Cyanobacteriia
Order	Proboscidea (อันดับช้าง)	Cyanobacteriales
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Microcystaceae
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Coelosphaerium
Species	Loxodonta africana	Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum

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 Asia and Europe, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Taiwan.

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.

Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum is a colonial planktonic cyanobacterium in the family Merismopediaceae, named in honour of the nineteenth-century German phycologist Friedrich Traugott Kützing, who made foundational contributions to the study of algae and cyanobacteria. The species forms spherical to globular mucilaginous colonies with cells arranged near the periphery of a clear gelatinous matrix—the characteristic architecture of the genus. Individual cells are small, typically 2–5 micrometres in diameter, and possess gas vesicles that confer buoyancy regulation, enabling the organism to position itself advantageously in stratified water columns. Coelosphaerium kuetzingianum has been recorded from freshwater lakes, reservoirs, and ponds across temperate northern Europe, including Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as well as from Taiwan, indicating a broad latitudinal tolerance. Its occurrence in both boreal and subtropical settings suggests morphological plasticity or the presence of distinct ecotypes within the species concept. As with other members of the genus, it participates in aquatic food webs as a primary producer and is consumed by filter-feeding zooplankton such as cladocerans and rotifers. Eutrophication resulting from agricultural nutrient loading can stimulate cyanobacterial growth in affected water bodies. No IUCN conservation assessment has been undertaken for this planktonic cyanobacterium.