Using a relatively new form of genetic analysis, scientists have found that wild elephants will chow down on a rich palette of plants.
Past research has been able to show the broad strokes of an elephant’s plant-based diet. But conservation scientists at Brown University and elsewhere wanted to truly understand the food preferences of these gentle giants and how these preferences might be shaped by their environment and community. Elephants are social animals, living and foraging for food in large groups.
To get a better look at the elephant diet, the team relied on a relatively new form of genetic analysis called DNA “metabarcoding.” This technique allowed researchers to identify the traces of many different living things within a single sample—in this case, poop collected about 20 years earlier from elephants in two separate communities in Kenya, Africa. The team cross-referenced what they found against a DNA database of plants in the area.
“Wildlife populations need access to diverse dietary resources to prosper,” Kartzinel said. “Each elephant needs variety, a little bit of spice—not literally in their food, but in their dietary habits.”
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