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Elephants evolving to be tuskless after decades of poaching in Africa
- eevilspock 5y ago“ However, it is not all good news. The trait is only seen in female elephants and researchers said that genetic sequencing shows that the trait is linked to a mutation in the X chromosome, which can be fatal to male elephants in the womb.”
- jleyank 5y agoI guess this shows the magnitude of the poaching problem…. The selection pressure from poaching >> the loss of viable male offspring (for overall population success). Half of the males still make it through and no amount of elephant testosterone is effective vs poachers.