Elaine Atherfold, age 11, of Cyrville, Ont., Can., for her question:

How many species of elephant are there?

There should be no problem, one would think, in classifying an elephant. Certainly all his features are big enough to be noticed, but not everyone agrees about elephant species. While most experts say there are three separate species, a few think there should be only two.

The members of a species are alike in their physical features and may be blood kin to each other. The elephant is such an outstanding animal that no one could mistake him for even a distant relative of any other animal. It may seem logical to classify all elephants in one species, but we all know there are marked differences between the African elephant and the Indian elephant. Because of differences in size and trunk, ears and toenails they are classified in two separate species.

Many of us have heard of a pygmy elephant, and this fascinating idea calls to mind a miniature version of big jumbo or perhaps the fabulous elephant's child. Naturally the little fellow merits a species of his own. Most experts classify him in a separate species, but they no longer call him a pygmy elephant. Though he is small for an elephant, he may stand seven feet or taller at shoulder level.

 He is known as the African forest elephant and enjoys life in the tropical jungles of West Africa and the steamy Congo basin. He is some two feet shorter than  the African elephant of the plains, his ears are smaller and more rounded and he has four instead of three toenails on each hind foot. A few experts think that these differences are not enough to classify the smallish forest elephant in a separate species.

Andy's readers naturally will tend to agree with those who claim three elephant species, including one for the little fellow. They would like to believe that a real pygmy sized elephant exists, and so would most experts. Many of them have gone to the jungles to track down rumors of pint sized elephants, but no true pygmy jumbo ever has been found. The specimen, when found, was a runt or smallish forest elephant, and sometimes he turned out to be merely an elephant's child.

The scientific classification of elephants tends to stress the differences between the two or three separate species. Actually, the likenesses they share are far more marked. Though natives of different continents, they enjoy warm climates and similar surroundings. And all elephants in the wild state cope with the problems of life in much the same manner.