The trunk is an essential sensory tool for the elephant who cannot survive if it is damaged. Whether to smell a female and see if she is sexually receptive or to explore the food in another elephant's mouth, the trunk participates in all stages of the elephant's life. The elephant can test different odors with its trunk by placing its tip inside its mouth after touching an object. This transfers the odor to a small opening in its palate that leads to Jacobson's organ, the accessory organ of olfaction in vertebrates.