There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separate species, but this is the most convincing scientific evidence so far that they are indeed different species.

　　Previously, many naturalists believed that African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were two populations of the same species, despite the elephants’ significant size differences. The savanna elephant has an average shoulder height of 3. 5 metres while the forest elephant has an average shoulder height of 2. 5 metres. The savanna elephant weighs between six and seven tons, roughly double the weight of the forest elephant. But the fact that they look so different does not necessarily mean they are different species. However the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA.

　　Alfred Roca, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, said, “We now have to treat the forest and savanna elephants as two different units for conservation purposes. Since 1950, all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very distinctive animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority (优先) for conservation purposes.”

　　1. One of the fossils studied by the researchers is that of　.　

　　A. the Asian elephant　B. the forest elephant

　　C. the savanna elephantD. the mastodon elephant

【2016届高考英语二轮复习阅读理解一百四十集选练：（135）】相关文章：

★ 【浙江专用】2014届高考英语一轮复习课时作业(三十六)选修8Unit 1《A land of diversity》

★ 安徽省淮南市2014高考英语一轮单项选择及文章训练（20）及答案

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习课时训练：6（含解析）

★ 四川省广安市2014高考英语一轮基础训练题（11）及答案

★ 常熟市2014高考英阅读理解语一轮（暑假）训练题（4）及答案

★ 【三维设计】2017届高考英语（江苏专用）二轮复习高考单词5大记忆法课件：3.谐音记忆法

★ 2014届高考英语一轮复习课时作业(三十三)选修6Module 3《Music》（外研版）

★ 【人教版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导考点针对练：必修4 unit4《Body language》

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍阅读理解七选五：考纲解读（含解析）

★ 【人教版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导考点针对练：选修6 unit2《Poems》