The African and Asian elephants and the mammoth diverged ca. 4-6 million years ago and their phylogenetic relationship has been controversial. Morphological studies have suggested a mammoth-Asian ...

Paleogenomics, which studies molecular data from fossil bones, has shown that African forest elephants are more closely related to a now-extinct ancestor than they are to African savanna elephants.

While investigating ancient DNA from the extinct straight-tusked elephant, researchers discovered facts that could cause a giant-sized shakeup of the evolutionary tree. A revised tree showing ...