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Online tool speeds response to elephant poaching by tracing ivory to source

November 8, 2019

A new tool uses an interactive database of geographic and genetic information to help authorities quickly identify where the confiscated tusks of African elephants were originally poached.

Developed by an international team of researchers, the Loxodonta Localizer matches genetic sequences from poached ivory to those stored in the database. It relies on genetic information from a small, highly variable region of mitochondrial DNA from African elephants.


November 8, 2019


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Protect forest elephants to conserve ecosystems, not DNA

April 25, 2018

Although it is erroneously treated as a subspecies, the dwindling African forest elephant is a genetically distinct species. New University of Illinois research has found that forest elephant populations across Central Africa are genetically quite similar to one another. Conserving this critically endangered species across its range is crucial to preserving local plant diversity in Central and West African Afrotropical forests--meaning conservationists could save many species by protecting one.


April 25, 2018


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Desert elephants pass on knowledge—not mutations—to survive

August 1, 2016

Despite reported differences in appearance and behavior, DNA evidence finds that Namibian desert elephants are not a subspecies, but rather another population of African savanna elephants in Namibia. However, Namibian desert-dwelling elephants should be protected so they can continue to pass on their unique knowledge and survival skills to future generations.


August 1, 2016


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War Elephant Myths Debunked by DNA

January 9, 2014

War Elephant Myths Debunked by DNA

Through DNA analysis, Illinois researchers have disproved years of rumors and hearsay surrounding the ancient Battle of Raphia, the only known battle between Asian and African elephants.

“What everyone thinks about war elephants is wrong,” said Alfred Roca, a Professor of Animal Sciences and member of the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who led the research published in the Journal of Heredity.


January 9, 2014


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