# Two-Trunked Elephants in Science Fiction **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2013, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198 "2013-04-09T02:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/21 "2013-04-09T17:01:01Z")
General George S. Patton on the intelligence of two-trunked elephants. > [@](#): > > The elephant it is said would have outstripped man in the struggle for the supremacy of the earth had he possessed two trunks, but having only one he did not develop the same flexibility of mind as are acquired for the use of two arms. p. 146 > **[The Patton Papers](https://books.google.com/books?id=RRolDuahqPMC&pg=PA146&dq=elephant%2Bwith%2B%22two%2Btrunks%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=40hkUd2pOYHB4APntIC4CA)** > > One of World War II's most brilliant and controversial generals, George S. Patton (1885-1945) fought in North Africa and Sicily, as commander of the Third Army, spearheaded the Allies' spectacular 1944-1945 sweep through France, Belgium, and Germany.... I wonder if Niven and Pournelle read this? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/22 "2013-04-10T01:20:22Z")
**Exapno** , I remember “The Tetrahedrons of Space”. It was mainly remarkable for its use of flipped punctuation: So many sentences ended with exclamation points, that the rare few that ended with periods stood out as emphasized. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/23 "2013-04-10T08:10:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, within the book, it just takes a bit of extrapolation. There’s a thuktun they show the humans which shows their recent evolutionary path, and the proto-fithp is described as looking exactly like an elephant (larger, only one trunk, etc.). Combine that with a known starfaring race that’s taken an interest in the Fithps’ development, and the implication is clear. Naah, it’s made explicit that the Predecessors were native to the Fithp homeworld, and died out there - they aren’t indicated as having Uplifted the Fithp themselves, that happened after they died out by normal evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/24 "2013-04-10T11:50:15Z")
Nobody knows what world the Predecessors were native to, since nobody even knows what they looked like. And they died out (or left, or whatever) before the Fithp reached sapience, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t start the process before then. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/25 "2013-04-10T13:22:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Nobody knows what world the Predecessors were native to, since nobody even knows what they looked like. And they died out (or left, or whatever) before the Fithp reached sapience, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t start the process before then. It’s explicitly stated that they did die out, as a result of their own environmental excesses. There’s nothing in the novel indicating that the Fithp, at any rate, thought of them as anything other than native. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198/26 "2013-04-10T13:37:17Z")
Also, this doesn’t sound like any Earth-elephant: > [@](#): > > The sketch that was third from the top resembled a stunted fi’. It was bulky, flat-skulled, with but one branch to its trunk. Looks like they already had branched trunks, and were even smaller than the evolved Fithp. That doesn’t spell Earth-elephant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-trunked-elephants-in-science-fiction/655198.md?page=1)