Elephant 'had aquatic ancestor' BBC - April 15, 2008 An ancient ancestor of the elephant from 37 million years ago lived in water and had a similar lifestyle to a hippo, a fossil study has suggested. (2009, April 23). The new find, based on DNA from fossils found in Germany, may also shed light on a DNA discrepancy that has puzzled scientists for some time. ... How does fossil evidence support evolution?--Newer fossils found in upper layers of the crust, are more similar to present day organisms ... elephant. Roca AL, Georgiadis N, Pecon-Slattery J, O’Brien SJ (2001) Genetic evidence for two species of elephant in Africa. It wasn’t long ago that tracing the evolutionary history of animals was left to the fossil experts to sort out, something which the study of phylogenetics (the relatedness of bits of DNA), is helping us to piece together. By challenging the more passive view of natural selection—in which an environmental change simply favored elephants with stronger teeth—the study uses fossil evidence to … Elephant Evolution. In these early times they were used to help with building due to their size. Elephant Evolution I the author consulted many sources in books and online to try to develope a picture of how elephants evolved, assuming that evolution theory is more or less true. Early fossil discoveries A guide to the evolution of elephants. That creature was Phosphatherium, a small, squat, pig-sized herbivore that popped up in Africa about 60 million years ago. ... More Stories from Science News for Students on Fossils. ... a small fraction of those lending strong support to Darwin’s theory of evolution. The Proboscidea seem to have begun their divergence from the Sirenia (the group containing manatees and dugongs) in the Eocene along the swampy shores of the Tethys sea (now the Mediterranean rim) at sites like modern-day Fayoum, Egypt, where fossil specimens of the two groups can be found in close proximity to one another. ... More Stories from Science News for Students on Fossils. The fossil record provides snapshots of the past that, when assembled, illustrate a panorama of evolutionary change over the past four billion years. Why did all the other families of the order Proboscidea go extinct? The ins and outs of elephant evolution. Search. It was only the African elephant that ended up staying and evolving to the animal we know today solely in Africa. The new find, based on DNA from fossils found in Germany, may also shed light on a DNA discrepancy that has puzzled scientists for some time. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Woolly mammoths were 9–11 feet tall when fully grown and weighed 4–6 tons. Forms of the elephant are believed to date back to 2,000 B.C. Evidence suggests that North American mammoths and mastodons were hunted to extinction by the first humans to reach the continent. Humans hunted the N. Elephant Seal to near-extinction (only 20-30 in the entire population) in the 1890s. Continued Evolution Where and when did Elephant evolution begin? From Mammoth to Modern Elephant ... scientists had proposed that woolly mammoths are more closely related to Asian elephants than to African elephants. It gives us physical proof of extinction, and of single species splitting into two. In Greek linguistics, elephos represents an antlered beast or stag. Moeritherium, extinct genus of primitive mammals that represent a very early stage in the evolution of elephants. 1. The immigrant elephants evolved into new North American forms but ultimately all these elephants were extinct by 10,000 years ago. It shows us that evolutionary change tends to be gradual. The picture may be smudged in places and may have bits missing, but fossil evidence clearly shows that life is old and has changed over time. Moeritherium, extinct genus of primitive mammals that represent a very early stage in the evolution of elephants. The evolution of elephants. ... and the oldest evidence of an elephant herd. Fossil Footprints Reveal Oldest Elephant Herd.