Why is the elephant trunk so wrinkly? It sounds like the start of one of Aesop’s fables. But in a new study in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers offer up some answers.

There’s a wrinkle — or many — in the story behind an elephant’s trunk

A bump in the elephant brain stem pointed scientists to the wrinkles on their trunks and the role those folds play in the animal’s life.

does the explanation have anything to do with ’satiable curiosity

Gee. I couldn't possibly guess. Gosh. I wonder if it might be because they need to curl their trunks into tight circles, so they evolved flexible skin to cover it. Hmm. Yikes. I dunno. Wow. Tough question. It's impossible to imagine. /s

There's a very simple explanation. Hint: look at your own finger joints. Where they bend, there are wrinkles... An elephant trunk bends and curls. Wrinkles are there to accommodate the stretching of the skin.