The secret behind elephants’ extraordinary trunk dexterity

THE LIST of feats Andrew Schulz has witnessed an elephant perform with its trunk is as long as, well, an elephant’s trunk.

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These powerful proboscises are strong enough to push over 480kg trees and gentle enough to pick up a tortilla chip without breaking it. They can snuffle along the ground to sense vibrations from far-off herd movements. They can be used to solve puzzles, peel bananas, craft tools, console a fellow pachyderm or a human friend.

Now Schulz has found the secret to the trunks’ extraordinary dexterity: whiskers.

The hundreds of fine hairs that cover an elephant’s trunk are some of the most sophisticated and sensitive whiskers in the animal kingdom, according to new research in the journal Science. Using microscope images, advanced computer models and a 3D-printed “whisker wand”, Schulz and his colleagues show how the structure of elephant whiskers makes their trunks uniquely capable of detecting motion, handling objects and performing complex tasks.