Elephant Burials Welcome! You are encouraged to register with the site and login (for free). When you register, you support the site and your question history is saved.Elephants are one of few animal species with intelligence and a capacity for empathy similar to that of humans. They habitually bury their dead by placing sticks and leaves over a member of their herd that has died. They are not known to bury animals other than elephants, but in some cases they have mourned humans with which they had established a relationship, leading to the theory that elephants will bury other animals with which they have had a direct relationship, but only those animals. Surprisingly, however, elephants have been found to visit the burial locations of other elephants they never knew in life. Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the surprising finding? The capacity of elephants to empathize extends to animals they did not personally know. Elephants' rituals have the natural purpose of burying other elephants, but elephants will use them to bury other species. Elephants have had regular direct relationships in life with animals that they have not been known to bury, such as birds. Elephants who were previously members of a herd and known to that herd, especially males, may leave that herd and never return. Elephants will bury and visit the graves of animals with which they can empathize, including animals they recognize as elephants and animals demonstrating a similar level of intelligence. Review Answer