Australian researchers said Tuesday that modern elephants, which often use their trunks as snorkels when they cross deep rivers, may have evolved in water.

The researchers studied a series of African elephant embryos and fetuses, and found that the animals shared key features with aquatic creatures such as frogs, fish, and manatees.

Ann Gaeth, a doctoral candidate at Melbourne University, and colleagues at the Royal Women's Hospital in Carlton, said the findings complement other recent evidence that suggests that elephants are closely related to, and may have evolved from, sea mammals.

"There is now a wealth of evidence to show that the elephants and the sea cows must share a common ancestor," Gaeth's team wrote in the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Findings showed that there were tiny trunks on the fetuses, visible even in the smallest one.

"The trunk might have first evolved as an adaptation to an aquatic environment. For example, it could have been used as a snorkel, as it is to this day," the team said.