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Bird that went extinct 136,000 years ago evolves again
- Scaevolus 7y agoThe mutation rate across a genome is not constant. If a species has high-mutation-rate genes with variations that help them adapt to new environments, it can quickly differentiate itself and thrive in a new niche. This happens in many fish, where they can transform from large saltwater forms to smaller freshwater forms within a human lifespan: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6422/81 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6422/81
- thatoneuser 7y agoFascinating! Didn't see any pictures so found an article talking about these fish that did. Not sure if it's the same mutation but figured I'd share https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/selection/stickleback/ https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/selection/sticklebac...
- stareatgoats 7y ago> The mutation rate across a genome is not constant First time I heard about this, and it seems to explain why some animals/organisms hardly evolve at all over the eons (crocodiles comes to mind). So is this (the mutation rate) an established and accepted concept within evolutionary biology? and can it be used to explain the relative stability of some species? Sorry, not very educated in this area, just curious.
- wjnc 7y agoThe '94 book "The beak of the finch" [1] documents something similar. Natural selection in finches can respond to environmental changes that quickly that the researchers could see differentiation in action. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beak_of_the_Finch https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beak_of_the_Finch