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In regions of Africa wracked by heavy poaching, people have observed an increased incidence of African elephants without their iconic white tusks

Observers in areas with heavy poaching had previously noticed an increased incidence of African elephants without their iconic tusks. But until now there has been no direct genetic evidence indicating how this was happening, or why the trait was occurring exclusively in female elephants.

As the country’s civil war decimated elephant populations, the proportion of tuskless females rose dramatically. A new study explains why the tuskless trend continued in peacetime.

Nautilus is a different kind of science magazine. We deliver big-picture science by reporting on a single monthly topic from multiple perspectives. Read a new chapter in the story every Thursday.

Liz Fuller-Wright, Office of Communications May 3, 2021 1 p.m. For his senior thesis, Luca Kuziel is investigating the biomes and microbiomes of animals in six African regions, including Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, where he spent two pre-COVID-19 field seasons, and the Mpala Research Center in Kenya (seen here). Photo by Yuki Haba When Luca Kuziel discovered the community of ecologists at Princeton, he had no idea that his experience of radical acceptance with them would change the c...