1. The African forest elephant (top photo) lives in forests in the Congo Basin a
ID: 20403 • Letter: 1
Question
1. The African forest elephant (top photo) lives in forests in the Congo Basin and the African savanna elephant (bottom photo) lives primarily in partial deserts and grasslands. While these two elephants mostly live in different habitats, there are some areas of co-occurrence.a. Is knowing these elephants primarily live in different kinds of habitats sufficient information for calling them distinct species according to the biological species concept? If you answer yes, explain why you think living in different habitats makes the forest and savanna elephant different species. If you answer no, explain what else you would want to know in order to feel comfortable calling these two elephants distinct species.
b. A recent study by Nadin Rohland et al. (citation below) compared DNA sequences of 375 genes found in these elephants. The authors concluded that savanna and forest elephants differ enough at the genetic level to be considered separate species. Their analysis suggests that the forest and savanna elephants are anciently diverged- perhaps as much as 2 to 7 million years. Do you think this is sufficient evidence to call these two elephants separate species according to the biological species concept? Why or why not?
For more information on this topic: Rohland, N. et al. 2010. Genomic DNA sequences from Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth reveal deep speciation of forest and savanna elephants. PLoS Biol 8(12).
For an interesting critique of this article (and to learn more about the biological species concept), visit: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/how-many-species-of-elephant/
Explanation / Answer
a.No, there are many animals with isolated populations of the same species. I would need to know if they were capable of producing fertile offspring with each other. Also, because there is some overlap in their range it is possible that interbreeding could occur between the two populations which could prevent speciation. b. Yes, because it is possible to tell from analyzing their DNA whether the two species would be capable of producing fertile offspring when they breaded with each other.
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