African elephant vs

Loxodonta africana compared with Coleroa robertiani

Key Differences

  • African elephant is Vulnerable while is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank African elephant
Kingdom Animalia (hayvan) Fungi (mantar)
Phylum Chordata (Kordalılar) Ascomycota (Asklı mantarlar)
Class Mammalia (memeliler) Dothideomycetes (Dothideomycetes)
Order Proboscidea (Hortumlular) Venturiales (Venturiales)
Family Elephantidae (Elephants) Venturiaceae
Genus Loxodonta (African Elephants) Coleroa
Species Loxodonta africana Coleroa robertiani

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 North America, inhabiting ecosystems characteristic of the region.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, and United States.

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.

Coleroa robertiani is an ascomycete fungus in the family Phacidiaceae, specialized as a parasite or saprotrophic organism on herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum) and related geraniums (family Geraniaceae). The species produces small, dark apothecia on senescent or infected leaf tissue, releasing ascospores that perpetuate the fungal life cycle. Like other Coleroa species, it forms characteristic setose (bristle-bearing) fruiting bodies that anchor to host plant surfaces. This fungus is recorded primarily from temperate European regions where Geranium robertianum grows in shaded, moist habitats such as hedgerows, woodland edges, and rocky slopes. Its host specificity to Geraniaceae reflects co-evolutionary relationships between fungal lineages and particular plant families. Coleroa robertiani is generally not considered an economically significant pathogen given the weed or naturalized status of its host plants in many areas, but it plays a role in regulating wild Geranium populations and cycling nutrients through decomposition of infected tissue. As with many microfungi on minor hosts, detailed ecological and distributional data are sparse, and molecular phylogenetic studies continue to refine its classification within the broader Rhytismatales.

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