Evolution, elephants, and trauma

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Absolutely fascinating article in the NY Times about how ivory poaching is directly impacting the evolutionary adaptations of elephants, in ways that not only let them escape the carnage by poachers, but may also prove a catastrophe for the species.

The second intriguing suggestion in the article is around how trauma can affect the genome, something theorists have proposed over the years is evident in the generational transmission of traumatic race memory among human beings.

Well worth the read, and not too scientific to be a challenge for us lay people...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/scien...sMbTD_ZdQA

[Lilith7]

Absolutely fascinating article in the NY Times about how ivory poaching is directly impacting the evolutionary adaptations of elephants, in ways that not only let them escape the carnage by poachers, but may also prove a catastrophe for the species.

The second intriguing suggestion in the article is around how trauma can affect the genome, something theorists have proposed over the years is evident in the generational transmission of traumatic race memory among human beings.

Well worth the read, and not too scientific to be a challenge for us lay people...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/scien...sMbTD_ZdQA

  I hope elephants are able to survive without tusks i& I wonder whether this will affect their diet to a large extent or if they can adapt somehow. Interesting that longhorn sheep are also now having shorter horns as a result of trophy hunters targeting those with larger horns.

[Magoo]

Absolutely fascinating article in the NY Times about how ivory poaching is directly impacting the evolutionary adaptations of elephants, in ways that not only let them escape the carnage by poachers, but may also prove a catastrophe for the species.

The second intriguing suggestion in the article is around how trauma can affect the genome, something theorists have proposed over the years is evident in the generational transmission of traumatic race memory among human beings.

Well worth the read, and not too scientific to be a challenge for us lay people...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/scien...sMbTD_ZdQA

  I hope elephants are able to survive without tusks i& I wonder whether this will affect their diet to a large extent or if they can adapt somehow. Interesting that longhorn sheep are also now having shorter horns as a result of trophy hunters targeting those with larger horns.

Im too lazy to read the article. But not so lazy as to not proffer my learned opinion.
All the biggest horns are hunted and killed, removed from the brood herd. This decreases the size of the horns by genetics, its not adaptatiion or evolutionary process.
Furthermore by the end of most seasons the biggest horns have been hunted, with only small ones left to count.

[harm_less]

  I hope elephants are able to survive without tusks i& I wonder whether this will affect their diet to a large extent or if they can adapt somehow. Interesting that longhorn sheep are also now having shorter horns as a result of trophy hunters targeting those with larger horns.

Im too lazy to read the article. But not so lazy as to not proffer my learned opinion.
All the biggest horns are hunted and killed, removed from the brood herd. This decreases the size of the horns by genetics, its not adaptatiion or evolutionary process.
Furthermore by the end of most seasons the biggest horns have been hunted, with only small ones left to count.

NY Times article is firewalled so unable to view it. I agree with Magoo's take on the situation except evolution will play a part as culling of large horned/tusked individuals will remove their genetic input from the population, in the same way environmentally disadvantaged traits will decrease over time.

[Lilith7]

Im too lazy to read the article. But not so lazy as to not proffer my learned opinion.
All the biggest horns are hunted and killed, removed from the brood herd. This decreases the size of the horns by genetics, its not adaptatiion or evolutionary process.
Furthermore by the end of most seasons the biggest horns have been hunted, with only small ones left to count.

NY Times article is firewalled so unable to view it. I agree with Magoo's take on the situation except evolution will play a part as culling of large horned/tusked individuals will remove their genetic input from the population, in the same way environmentally disadvantaged traits will decrease over time.

It wasn't firewalled for me, no problem reading it.

[harm_less]

NY Times article is firewalled so unable to view it. I agree with Magoo's take on the situation except evolution will play a part as culling of large horned/tusked individuals will remove their genetic input from the population, in the same way environmentally disadvantaged traits will decrease over time.

It wasn't firewalled for me, no problem reading it.

So, the obvious question is whether you are a subscriber to the NY Times or one of their affiliates?

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Interesting that there is a correlated genetic change in that fewer surviving males are being born to tuskless females.

The article is worth the read. And no, I am subscribed but not a paying sub.

Evolution is a process of genetic change. Survival of the fittest. Natural selection. This is evolution.

[Lilith7]

It wasn't firewalled for me, no problem reading it.

So, the obvious question is whether you are a subscriber to the NY Times or one of their affiliates?

No, it was just there to read so perhaps they do the odd article without that from time to time. It would make good sense.