An elephant’s trunk provides a fascinating model for technology. The roughly 40,000 muscle bundles in an elephant’s trunk make it very flexible, highly compliant, and capable of transmitting large forces.

An elephant’s trunk is a muscular hydrostat, which means it’s a boneless muscular structure that allows for its excellent maneuverability. It is composed of muscles, vessels, nerves, fat, and other connective tissues, and skin.

Did you know that the trunk is both extremely delicate and extremely strong? The finger-like tips at the end of an elephant’s trunk is used to clasp smaller objects. It’s even used to wipe or clean the elephant’s eyes. On the contrary, the trunk is so powerful it can pull out trees!