African elephants have always been considered the same species, but in reality they had split from each other into two distinct species over 5 - 6 million years ago, around the time when humans separated from chimpanzees. The savanna elephant is larger, has curving tusks, and roams the open plains of sub-Saharan Africa. The smaller, darker forest elephant, with straight tusks, lives in the equatorial forests of Central and West Africa.

Now, for the first time, scientists have separately evaluated how the two are faring—and the findings are grim.

Courtesy of Kelly Ma

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