You didn't read my link did you?
Here's a cut for you:
Now a group of scientists have taken a deeper look at the African elephants' genetic ancestry. The researchers sequenced the nuclear genomes of both types of African elephant, as well as that of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). They also extracted and sequenced DNA from the extinct woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and mastodon (Mammut americanum) — ancient elephant ancestors. By comparing all these genomes, the team found that the forest and savanna elephants diverged into separate species between 2.6 and 5.6 million years ago. The study is published online in the journal Plos Biology
1.
"They split about the same time as African and Asian elephants split into separate species, and much longer ago than people previously thought," says David Reich, a population geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, and a lead author on the study.
"You can no more call African elephants the same species as you can Asian elephants and the mammoth," he adds.
Also, where you're painting yourself into a corner is the "ears" argument. On that basis, you and chimps are the same species. Not much difference in physical attributes (unlike elephants, even the ears are about the same size) . As I said, look at the DNA .....
Just to emphasise what the scientist said above, YOU CAN NO MORE CALL AFRICAN ELEPHANTS THE SAME SPECIES AS YOU CAN ASIAN ELEPHANTS AND THE MAMMOTH. (Caps for emphasis)
Can it be any clearer?
