Tusks, testosterone and personality in male Asian elephants ().

Male Asian elephants exhibit phenotypic diversity in tusk development, with long, short and tuskless bulls varying in frequency among different populations. Although the factors that maintain tusk variation in Asian elephants remain unclear, tusks are considered a secondary sexual characteristic probably influenced by sexual selection. In this study, we examined the relationship between tusk diversity, faecal testosterone metabolite (FTM) and personality in male Asian elephants aged 5-60 years living in semi-captive conditions within their native habitat in Myanmar.