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The mysterious origin of Bornean elephants


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The Bornean elephant is a subspecies of the Asian elephant that only exists in a small region of Borneo. Their presence on this southeastern Asian island has been a mystery. Now, in a study published in Scientific Reports, a research team led by Lounès Chikhi and Benoit Goossens has found that elephants might have arrived on Borneo via the last land bridge between the Sunda Islands in Southeast Asia.

Until recently, two opposing theories have been under debate to explain the origin of Bornean elephants. They could have been recently introduced by humans around 300 years ago, or they could have diverged from Asian elephants a long time ago. Indeed, there are historic records reporting that in the 17th century, neighboring Sultans offered elephants as gifts to the Bornean Sultan.

https://phys.org/news/2018-01-mysterious-bornean-elephants.html

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Or it could be that they swam ...
 

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Elephants are excellent swimmers | 12 facts to change the way you ...

https://www.mnn.com › Earth Matters › Animals
Jul 16, 2016 - It may not come as a surprise that elephants enjoy playing in the water. They are famous for splashing playfully and showering themselves and others w.
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Elephants are excellent swimmers. They swim submerged underwater ...

Elephants are excellent swimmers. They swim submerged underwater using their trunks as snorkels. African Elephants have been recorded swimming 48km .They can swim 6 hours nonstop then rest without sinking.

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Nov 20, 2016 - Like all mammals (except humans and apes, who have to learn how to swim), elephants are very good, untiring swimmers. Elephants move all four legs to swim and are able to move quite fast like that. Their big body provides enough floatation while the trunk acts like a snorkel.

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That must feel wonderful to an elephant, virtually weightless.  

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