Researchers show elephants really do have a sixth toe

(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes it seems, nature finds it must resort to some trickery to respond appropriately to changing conditions. Take the elephant, for example. Way back in time, say fifty million years ago, the hulking beasts spent most of their time standing in water, much like hippos do today. But then, over the next ten million years or so, they moved out of the water and began foraging on land. The problem with this though, was that walking on land meant forcing the feet to take up a lot more of the load. Elephants are really heavy after all.

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