The whole world loves elephants! These magnificent, intelligent, bright-eyed elephants possess secret survival skills that are handed down from generation to generation. In an astonishing discovery, scientists at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology found that an elephant’s secret survival skills are not DNA related. Rather, it is knowledge that is passed down from elder elephants.
At first, scientists at the Carl R. Woese Institute theorized that elephants’ DNA helps them to survive desert life. The majority of wild terrain in Africa is either desert or savannah. Scientists found it oddly curious that African elephants living in the desert looked and acted much differently than those living in the savannah. But the researchers found no genetic differences between Namibian desert elephants and African savannah elephants.
Scientists were puzzled by how elephants could have similar DNA but exhibit such contrasting behaviors. Namibian desert elephants in particular knew how to find food and water in desolate desert landscapes. They remembered the location of water sources and even had the knowledge to cool down their bodies by covering them with soil soaked in their own urine. These desert elephants were also seen storing water beneath their tongues, holding on to many liters at a time ? obviously important in a scarce desert environment. The Woese Institute scientists soon realized that these incredible Namibian desert elephants’ survival skills were not the result of instinct, but that of knowledge passed down for generations.