Living Architecture Spring 2007 Pratt

...a reference from the below times article

http://www.ece.clemson.edu/crb/labs/biomimetic/elephant.htm

a variation of the elephant trunk is also something called OCTOR which has suction cups along the trunk (making it more like an octopus arm).

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9124-robotic-tentacles-get-to-grips-with-tricky-objects.html