Researchers have recently extracted and sequenced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the fossilized bones of extinct woolly mammoths. The mtDNA, which can be used as a 'molecular clock' to guage the time since the mammoths and present day elephants diverged, has helped to resolve uncertainty about elephant evolution.

According to the results of the mtDNA analysis, African elephants (Loxodonta africana) diverged from woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) and Asiatic elephants (Elephas maximus) about six million years ago. Then Asiatic elephants and woolly mammoths diverged from each other about 500,000 years ago. Thus, Asiatic elephants and woolly mammoths are more closely related than African elephants and woolly mammoths.

Find out more:

• Extinct Mammoth DNA Decoded (BBC News)
• Woolly Mammoth DNA Reveals Elephant Family Tree (National Geographic)

Photo © Lynn Amaral