Researchers say gene studies may have settled a long-running debate by proving there are two distinct species of African elephants, savannah and forest species.
Scientists say the two types have been separated for at least 3 million years and are genetically completely different from each other, the BBC reported Tuesday.
Savannah-dwelling elephants, weighing 6 or 7 tons, are about twice as heavy as the elephants living in forest habitats.
Along with other differences in size and shape, this led some researchers to conclude there are two species — the savannah elephant, Loxodonta africana, and the forest species, Loxodonta cyclotis.
Scientists from the United States and Europe say genetic studies have proved the case.
"The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of the Asian elephant and woolly mammoths," Michi Hofreiter, a specialist in ancient DNA at the Britain's York University, said.
"The split between African savannah and forest elephants is almost as old as the split between humans and chimpanzees," Hofreiter said. "This result amazed us all."
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