Range-wide MtDNA Phylogeography Yields Insights Into The Origins Of Asian Elephants

We analyse endangered Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) across their range to explain the unusual coexistence of ancient maternal genetic lineages. Such coexistence could result from hybridization between ancestral species, or population isolation and subsequent contact naturally or through trade. Estimating ages of lineages, inferring areas of origin, and examining fossil records, we find that both lineages probably originated in the ancestral species Elephas hysudricus, 1.6-2.

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Filed under: Biology on November 21st, 2008