Thursday, October 21, 2021

Ivory hunting drives evolution of tuskless elephants

Here's my take on a great Science paper for Nature: how ivory hunting in Mozambique has driven the evolution of tusklessness in female elephants in that country. A fascinating story both in terms of the scientific detective work to track the genetic component of this evolutionary pressure, and in terms of what it means for the elephants. The trait is fatal for male offspring, so the elephant population will skew to having more females than males, and overall growth of the struggling population will be hindered. Plus... apparently tuskless elephants eat different plants, which could alter the entire ecosystem of the region. Amazing stuff!

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02867-y

No comments:

Post a Comment