GENETICALLY DISTINCT INDIAN ELEPHANTS?

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*Nature News

http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1070143.php/Asian_elephant_ge\

ne_study_surprise_result

* Asian elephant gene study: surprise result*Dec 20, 2005, 1:10 GMT * ** *

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*NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- Scientists at Columbia University have

found that one of the few remaining groups of wild Asian elephants in India

is genetically distinct.*

 

*The study`s findings might have far-reaching implications in conservation

plans for the endangered elephants, as well as other species on the

subcontinent.*

 

*Prithiviraj Fernando, a post-doctoral researcher at the Columbia`s Center

for Environmental Research and Conservation and Don Melnick, executive

director of CERC, together with colleagues from the Center for Ecological

Science at the Indian Institute of Science, collected dung samples from

nearly 300 wild Asian elephants and 30 captive elephants for which reliable

capture information existed.*

 

*They then examined DNA from the samples and found that, of the distinct

populations found in India, the group inhabiting the forests in the

northeast of the country is actually composed of two genetically distinct

populations separated by the Brahmaputra River.*

 

*Despite the low and declining numbers of Asian elephants, relatively little

is known about their genetic diversity -- information that`s crucial to

preserving the species.*

 

*The study appears in the current issue of the journal Animal Conservation.*

 

*Copyright 2005 by United Press International*