Sam Houston is the fourth generation of an elephant family at the Fort Worth Zoo. Fort Worth Zoo

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On April 1, Texas’ Fort Worth Zoo welcomed a 285-pound baby into the world. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke—the newborn was a healthy male Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) calf, and he represents the newest member of a four-generation Fort Worth elephant family.

Elephants are currently the largest terrestrial animals on earth, and they consist of three species : the Asian elephant, African savannah elephant ( Loxodonta africana ), and African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ). Asian elephants are a bit smaller than the other two species. On average, they weigh between 6,000 and 12,000 pounds and usually are six to 12 feet tall at the shoulder.…