Scientists map genes to uncover elephant 'hybrid history'

new study by an international team of researchers says that by mapping the elephant genome, they have found that the evolution of elephants over millions of years has been complex, with extensive interbreeding.
The study, conducted by researchers from the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden and other countries, sequenced 14 genomes of existing and extinct elephants, including extinct American mastos, paleo-teeth, Colombian mammoths and real mammoths, as well as Asian elephants, African forest elephants and African grassland elephants.
study, published in the U.S.
on June 26, showed that the ancient prisms were a mixture of genes from ancient African elephants, real mammoths and African forest elephants.
, there is also hybridization between Colombian mammoths and real mammoths, although they are different in size and habitat. The researchers speculated that the real mammoth met the Colombian mammoth at the intersection of glaciers that covered much of the continent at the time and the temperum regions of North America.
, an evolutionary geneticist at McMaster University in Canada and one of the study's authors, said: "Genomic data suggest that elephant evolution did not take place in an organized, linear manner. There
debate in academia about whether African forest elephants and African grassland elephants are two different species among the existing elephants. New research has found no genetic evidence of hybridization between African forest elephants and African grassland elephants, who have been nearly completely isolated from breeding for the past half a million years, despite their adjacent habitats.
will continue to study whether the introduction of new genes will help elephants adapt to new habitats and fluctuating climates, researchers said. (Source: Xinhua News Agency Zhou Zhou)