Geneticists define new elephant species
By Susan Milius
A new study of the genetics of African elephants shows that forest dwellers differ so much from those roaming the savannas that the two may be separate species. And that may not be the end of the story.
The traditional view lumped African elephants into one species located in a genus different from that of Asian elephants. Previous studies of body parts and some elephant DNA raised the possibility that African elephants should be divided, explain Alfred L. Roca of the National Cancer Institute’s genetics lab in Frederick, Md., and his colleagues. They report in the Aug. 22 Science that their genetic analysis of elephants in 21 populations supports the split.