Humans affecting elephant evolution for World Elephant Day

Happy World Elephant Day! I decided to celebrate it by returning to the conclusion of Whales and fish, two stories I tell my students with a program note: "PBS Terra has also uploaded a video about the effect of hunting on elephant evolution. Stay tuned to see if I write about it." It only took me 13 months. Watch PBS Terra explain How Humans Are Reshaping Elephant Evolution.

In our first episode of Human Footprint, host and evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton uncovers the impact of hunting on elephant genetics. From Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park to the scars left on the elephant population, Shane's research is revealing how our actions can change the course of evolution itself.

While this looks like it could be part of Evolution Earth, a nominee for Outstanding Nature Documentaries at the News & Doc Emmy Awards, it's definitely part of Human Footprint, an Emmy-nominated science and technology documentary. It's also a video I could show my students as an example of one of Commoner's Laws, particularly "Everything is connected to everything else."