promotion. In Spain, the Spanish Senate is often criticised as a cementerio de elefantes where politicians who have lost their previous positions end up doing no productive work. It is a term for the offices and a secretary provided to former high-ranking executives of large companies (at least in the United States), who have either retired or resigned. An executive who relinquishes or is relieved of authority becomes a consultant (special adviser) where they continue to receive a salary and an office under their contract but have little or no actual responsibilities (known as garden leave in the United Kingdom), until their non-compete agreement expires. Additionally the term "elephants' graveyard" has been deliberately used in a symbolic fashion to refer to specific paleontological sites, such as the elephant-fossil deposit that René Jeannel, professor at the French National Museum of Natural History, discovered during a Kenya & Ethiopia expedition in 1932. See also Elephant cognition and reports of elephant death rituals. References External links Teeth, second dentition, tusks – Contains information about the relevance of elephant teeth to the elephant graveyard myth Animal cemeteries Graveyard Animals in mythology Urban legends