Borneo elephants: A high priority for conservation

A new study settles a long-standing dispute about the genesis of an endangered species. With scant fossil evidence supporting a prehistoric presence, scientists could not say for sure where Borneo’s elephants came from. Did they descend from ancient prototypes of the Pleistocene era or from modern relatives introduced just 300–500 years ago? That question, as Fernando et al. report in an article that will appear in the inaugural issue of PLoS Biology (and currently available online at http://biology.plosjournals.org), is no longer subject to debate.

Applying DNA analysis and dating techniques to investigate the elephants’ evolutionary path, researchers from the United States, India, and Malaysia, led by Don Melnick of the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation at Columbia, demonstrate that Borneo’s elephants are not recent arrivals. They are genetically distinct from other Asian elephants and may have parted ways with their closest Asian cousins when Borneo separated from the mainland, effectively isolating the Borneo elephants some 300,000 years ago.

In the 1950s, Borneo elephants had been classified as a subspecies of Asian elephants (either Indian or Sumatran) based on anatomical differences, such as smaller skull size and tusk variations. This classification was later changed, partly because of the popular view that these animals had descended from imported domesticated elephants. Until now, there was no solid evidence to refute this belief and no reason to prioritize the conservation of Borneo elephants.

Their new status, as revealed by this study, has profound implications for the fate of Borneo’s largest mammals. Wild Asian elephant populations are disappearing as expanding human development disrupts their migration routes, depletes their food sources, and destroys their habitat. Recognizing these elephants as native to Borneo makes their conservation a high priority and gives biologists important clues about how to manage them.

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Research Article: Fernando P, Vidya TNC, Payne J, Stuewe M, Davison G, et al. (2003). DNA analysis indicates that Asian elephants are native to Borneo and are therefore a high priority for conservation. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0000006

Download article PDF at: http://www.plos.org/downloads/elephants_plosbiology.pdf

CONTACT:

Prithiviraj Fernando (corresponding author)
Columbia University
Center for Environmental Research and Conservation
1200 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
United States of America
212-854-9488
212-854-8188 (fax)
pf133@columbia.edu

Don Melnick (author)
Columbia University
Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and, Environmental Biology
1012 Schermerhorn Extension
1200 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, NY 10027
United States of America
212-854-8186
212-854-8186 (fax)
djm7@columbia.edu

Craig Moritz (editor)
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology
3060 Valley Life Sciences Building #3140
Berkeley, CA 94720-3140
United States of America
510-643-7711
510-643-6264 (fax)
cmoritz@socrates.berkeley.edu