Rapid evolution of tuskless elephants under poaching
Evolución rápida de elefantes sin colmillos por la caza furtiva
- Date
- 2021 (selección en 1977-1992) · confidence high
- Place
- Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
- Credited to
- Shane Campbell-Staton and a team from Princeton and the Gorongosa Project
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
During the civil war (1977-1992) ivory poaching killed about 90% of the park's elephants; tuskless females survived and the share of tuskless females rose from about 18% to over 50% among those born later. It is an observed case of selection by hunting.
Published in Science (2021). The mechanism is proposed to involve an X-linked dominant gene lethal in males, but the precise genetic causes remain under study. The date is that of the paper; selection took place during the war.
What it led to
- an example of rapid anthropogenic evolution in a large mammal
- identification of an X-linked locus lethal in males
- an argument on the genetic consequences of poaching