Genes reveal Africa's elephants as 2 separate species
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27/12/2000
Africa's reclusive forest elephants and the herds that trundle across its savannas are as genetically distinct as leopards are from lions, and thus should be reclassified as separate species, geneticists say. The finding, described in the current issue of Science, could prompt a rethinking of elephant conservation strategies, which have long been premised on the idea that all the continent's pachyderms are one species.