Book contents
- Pointing
- Pointing
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction to Pointing:
- Part One Culture and Development
- Part Two Evolutionary Perspectives
- 13 Pointing in Chimpanzees Who Use American Sign Language
- 14 Are We Missing the Point?:
- 15 The Nature of the Point:
- 16 Changing the Focus:
- 17 The Neural Foundations of Gestural Communication in Captive Chimpanzees
- 18 Do Baboons Point?:
- 19 Pointing with Your Nose:
- 20 Pointing and the Object Choice Task:
- 21 The Use of Human Social Cues in Domestic Farm Animals
- Index
- References
19 - Pointing with Your Nose:
Do Elephants Point, and How Do We Know?
from Part Two - Evolutionary Perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2026
Book contents
- Pointing
- Pointing
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Introduction to Pointing:
- Part One Culture and Development
- Part Two Evolutionary Perspectives
- 13 Pointing in Chimpanzees Who Use American Sign Language
- 14 Are We Missing the Point?:
- 15 The Nature of the Point:
- 16 Changing the Focus:
- 17 The Neural Foundations of Gestural Communication in Captive Chimpanzees
- 18 Do Baboons Point?:
- 19 Pointing with Your Nose:
- 20 Pointing and the Object Choice Task:
- 21 The Use of Human Social Cues in Domestic Farm Animals
- Index
- References
Summary
There is growing awareness that pointing can take various forms, and may not be restricted to humans or other primates with arms and hands to extend. Elephants are one such animal that may use other body parts to point. African savannah (Loxodonta africana), forest (Loxodonta cyclotis) and Asian (Elephas maximums) elephants often hold their trunks in a way that looks like they are pointing, but how do we know if this is really their intention? This chapter interrogates the evidence for elephant pointing, beginning with an assessment of whether elephants can follow and understand the pointing gestures of humans. It then considers experimental and observational evidence of possible pointing in wild elephants and evaluates what would be required from this evidence to determine if elephants are using these gestures intentionally. The chapter ends by discussing possible future avenues of research that illuminate this question further.
Keywords
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- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- PointingCulture, Development, and Evolution, pp. 356 - 371Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
References
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