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The family structure of elephants - Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell

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Biologist Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell has come to one big conclusion from her last twenty years studying elephants -- they're just like us. In this TEDYouth Talk, O'Connell-Rodwell details her work observing these incredible, social animals, examining several individual (and very familiar) characters that play, bond and argue in tight-knit extended families eerily similar to our own.

When elephant extended relatives greet, they have a ritual where one places their trunk in the other’s mouth as a form of greeting. They are also very vocal during greetings. Do humans have similar greeting rituals?

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Meet The Creators

  • Speaker Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell

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