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Research with DNA extracted from feces indicates that the elephants of Angola known as “ghosts” belong to a genetic lineage not yet recorded in previous sequencing, linked to populations in Namibia and observed in an isolated high-altitude region.
DNA extracted from feces revealed that the elephants of Angola known as “ghosts” form a distinct genetic lineage in the highlands of the eastern part of the country, more closely related to populations in Namibia, hundreds of kilometers to the south.
Angola’s elephants have intrigued researchers for more than a decade
The search began with local reports about nocturnal giants in a remote area. For more than ten years, conservation biologist Steve Boyes followed information about these animals, described as rare, large, and difficult to observe.
In 2024, a camera recorded the elephants in Lisima Ly Mwono, in eastern Angola. From this record, Boyes sought out scientists from Stanford to investigate who these animals were.
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The region required a difficult expedition. The team had to cross rivers carrying motorcycles to reach the studied area. The search and analysis appear in a National Geographic documentary.
DNA from feces allowed investigation of elephants without direct contact
Boyes took fecal samples to the laboratory of Dmitri Petrov, professor at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, and Katie Solari, senior scientist at the Petrov Lab and associate director of the Conservation Genomics Program.
In the laboratory, the samples went through a machine used to break cells and release DNA. The extracted material was sent for genomic sequencing, allowing the complete genome of the animals to be read without capturing or seeing them up close.
Solari explained that the method is useful when the animal is almost invisible for direct observation. When the fecal sample is fresh, the outer mucus layer can function as a tissue sample.
The challenge is to separate the animal’s DNA from other materials present in the feces, such as dietary remains, microbiome, and parasites. Nevertheless, the technique provided information to examine ancestry, individuals, sex, and close kinship.
Lineage surprises with genetic connection to Namibia
After obtaining the genome of the ghost elephants, the scientists shared the data with Carla Hoge, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago, in John Novembre’s lab. She compared the sequences with data from other elephants.
The team found a significant limitation: there was little genetic information available about wild elephants. Some captive individuals had been sequenced, but their ancestral origin was not always clear, reducing the usefulness of the comparison.
To move forward, Jordana Meyer and Solari spent months collecting blood and tissue samples from other elephants in the filmed region. This base allowed them to assess whether the animals from the Angolan highlands were linked to known populations.
The result surprised the researchers. The elephants proved to be genetically distinct from any population sequenced in the study and closer to the elephants of Namibia than to the animals of the Okavango Delta in Botswana.
Henry’s Mystery Remains Without Genetic Confirmation
Boyes considers it possible that the animals are living descendants of Henry, an elephant killed in Angola in the 1950s and described as the largest living land mammal ever recorded. His remains are at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The hypothesis, however, has not been proven. So far, the genetic evidence of Henry is mitochondrial DNA, transmitted only through the maternal lineage, and this data does not connect the historical animal to the ghost elephants.
For the scientists, the samples brought advances for conservation. Petrov highlighted that identifying distinct individuals helps estimate population size without disturbing threatened animals. The same logic was applied by Solari in Pakistan.
The research also engages with studies of environmental DNA, genetic material left by organisms in water, soil, or air. The film records a stage of the investigation, but the Namibian origin of the Angolan elephants remains open.
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