Evolution of the Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus and how they could lose their tusks

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The rapid evolution of the family Elephantidae throughout time has been extensively researched in the past decades and has resulted in many new discoveries and lineages between the genuses of Elephantidae. Throughout evolution, a majority of the species of Elephantidae have become extinct, leaving only Loxodonta africana, Loxodonta cyclotis, and Elephas maximus. The number of these species, however, has dwindled significantly in the past years due to the high number of deaths of elephants due to poaching. The continuation of poaching has a possibility of a new evolutionary event within the elephants, elephants without tusks.
Ancestors of the extant Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus

The family of Elephantidae shows a high rate of evolution, early stages of which were confined to Africa, while later stages occurred in Eurasia (Kalmykov & Mashchenko, 2006). Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the phylogeny of Elephantidae, and many of the researches have concluded different answers. Maglio, Beden, and Todd each concluded their research with phylogenetic trees that contrasted with each other.
According to Maglio (1972), the lineages of Loxodonta, Elephas, and Mammuthus all evolved from the ancestor Primelephas gomphotheroides. Loxodonta first evolved from the Primelephas in the Pliocene time period, leaving an Elephas-Mammuthus lineage. Soon after the separation of the Elephas lineage and Mammuthus lineage took place during the Pliocene time period. Very little evolution has occurred within the Loxodonta genus in the past two and a half million years, since the only ancestor of the living Loxodonta africana is Loxodonta adaurora. The Elephas lineage however has numerous events of evolution within the genus. Ac...

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...ith elephants. If poaching continues to increase as it has in the past, the elephants may not only lose their tusks, but they may also become extremely endangered or extinct.

Works Cited

Cressey, D. 2013. Tusk tracking will tackle illegal trade. Nature 494:411-412.
Kalmykov, N.P. and E.N. Mashchenko. 2006. New data on the migration of the family Elephantidae (mammalia, proboscidea) in Eurasia. Doklady Biological Sciences 406:103-105.
Kioko, J., E. Zink, M. Sawdy, and C. Kiffner. 2013. Elephant (Loxodonta africana) demography and behavior in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem, Tanzania. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 43:44-51.
Maglio, V.J. 1972. Evolution of Mastication in the Elephantidae. Evolution 26:638-658
Todd, N. E. 2010. New phylogenetic analysis of the family Elephantidae based on cranial- dentalmorphology. The Anatomical Record 293:74-90.

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