African forest and savannah elephants treated as separate species

Abstract

The African Elephant Specialist Group (AfESG) of IUCN will now treat African elephants as two species: the forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis and the savannah elephant Loxodonta africana. This will be reflected in IUCN's Red List assessment update for African elephants, and in the next iteration of the African Elephant Status Report, both to be published in 2021. This concurs with Wilson & Reader (Mammal Species of the World, 2005), the primary IUCN reference on mammalian taxonomy, Wittemyer (in Handbook of the Mammals of the World, 2011), and Tassy & Shoshani (in Mammals of Africa, 2013).

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