Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Two were martyred in Israeli shelling that targeted a besieged house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin
At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off Yemen: IOM
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.
Israeli media: 32% of Americans still support "Israel's" war on Hamas, while 60% oppose it.
Israeli media: Core US support for "Israel" hits its lowest, while support for Palestine reaches its highest levels.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports martyrs, injuries in Israeli bombardment of home in Heker al-Jame area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Al-Quds Governorate: Today, the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque began in a public and dangerous manner, and we warn of a religious war in the region
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 175, including 93 children

A Future of Elephants with No Tusks?

  • By Al Mayadeen
  • Source: Agencies
  • 23 Oct 2021 16:12
4 Min Read

Researchers in Mozambique are rushing to understand the genetics of elephants born without tusks—as well as the repercussions of the trait.

  • x
  • El
    What does the future hold for Elephants and their tusks?

An elephants' set of tusks is usually an advantage since they grant them the ability to dig for water, strip bark for food, and joust with other elephants. During periods of intensive ivory poaching, however, those large incisors become a burden.

Researchers have now identified how years of civil conflict and poaching in Mozambique have resulted in a higher proportion of elephants that will never develop tusks.

During the battle, which lasted from 1977 to 1992, militants on both sides massacred elephants for ivory to fund military activities. Around 90% of the elephants in the area that is now Gorongosa National Park were killed.

The survivors were likely to have one thing in common: half of the females were naturally tuskless          - they never acquired tusks - whereas, before the battle, less than a fifth lacked tusks.

Genes, like eye color in humans, determine whether elephants acquire tusks from their parents. Although tusklessness was historically uncommon in African savannah elephants, it is becoming increasingly frequent, much like a unique eye color becoming more common.

Following the conflict, the surviving tuskless females passed on their genes, with both expected and unexpected effects. Half of their daughters lacked tusks. What's more confusing is that two-thirds of their offspring were female.

The years of unrest “changed the trajectory of evolution in that population,” said evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton, based at Princeton University.

He and his colleagues set out to figure out how the ivory trade's pressure had skewed the scales of natural selection. 

Over several years, researchers in Mozambique, including biologists Dominique Goncalves and Joyce Poole, studied the national park's around 800 elephants to compile a registry of mothers and children.

Related News

Richard Leakey, conservationist elephant defender, dies at 77

British poachers to be banned from bringing 'trophies' to UK

“Female calves stay by their mothers, and so do males up to a certain age,” said Poole, the scientific director and co-founder of the nonprofit ElephantVoices.

Poole had previously seen elephant populations with a disproportionately large number of tuskless females following intensive poaching in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. “I’ve been puzzling over why it’s the females who are tuskless for a very long time,” said Poole, who is a co-author of the study.

The scientists obtained blood samples from 7 tusked and 11 tuskless female elephants in Gorongosa, then studied their DNA in an attempt to spot any differences.

The elephant survey results pointed them in the right direction: Since the tuskless elephants were female, they concentrated their efforts on the X chromosome. (Females have two X chromosomes, whereas men have one X and one Y.)

They also hypothesized that the relevant gene was dominant, implying that only a female requires one changed gene to become tuskless and that when passed on to male embryos, it might stunt their development.

“When mothers pass it on, we think the sons likely die early in development, a miscarriage,” said Brian Arnold, a co-author and evolutionary biologist at Princeton.

Their genetic investigation showed two crucial regions of the elephants' DNA that scientists believe play a role in the characteristic of tusklessness transmission. In other mammals, the same genes are linked to tooth development.

"They've established the smoking gun proof for genetic changes," said Chris Darimont, a conservation scientist from Canada's University of Victoria, who was not involved in the study. The effort "assists scientists and the general public in understanding how our culture can have a significant impact on the evolution of other living forms."

Most people conceive evolution as a slow process, yet the matter of fact remains that humans have the ability to accelerate it.

“When we think about natural selection, we think about it happening over hundreds, or thousands, of years,” said Samuel Wasser, a conservation biologist at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the research. “The fact that this dramatic selection for tusklessness happened over 15 years is one of the most astonishing findings.”

Scientists are now investigating what the presence of more tuskless elephants means for the species and its savannah environment. Their preliminary investigation of fecal samples indicates that the Gorongosa elephants are changing their diet, as they no longer have long incisors to remove bark from trees.

  • elephants
  • Elephant poaching
  • Environment
  • Tusks

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
Protesters chant anti-Israeli slogans as they carry a banner that reads:" Freedom for Palestine, Alliance stop the war," during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens, Monday, June 9, 2025 (AP)

Athens mayor slams Israeli ambassador over Gaza war, graffiti claim

  • Politics
  • 3 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS