Here is a Deer Mouse (click on image for full view),
Peromyscus maniculatus, which has acquired the mutation for pale fur naturally and passed it on to further generations thereby ensuring their survival in the paler sands of Sand Hills in Nebraska to the advantage of the darker furred mice of just a few miles away who thrive in the darker soils. (Of course genes for colour are highly variable but in this case the light gene, the so-called
Agouti, wasn't in existence, so had to mutate and then be selected over the years.) Evolution occurring before our very eyes - who can doubt it now? OK, I'm being naive, fanatical Christians et al will still doubt it, but a girl can dream, can't she?! There are obviously numerous more examples, but this is just the latest and one of the cutest ;)
Here is the article on the BBC news website.
2 comments:
I'm sorry but you are totally wrong here. The holy bible says God did it. So there!
No, seriously, I think the gene variant (allele) for the cream colour was already present in the original population but present at very low frequence, then got very popular in the new environment because cause of higher fitness (therefore higher number of litters).
sorry, just read the article...
it is indeed a very nice and rare example of a recently acquired and selected mutation. Niiice.
But still... It might also have been his Noodely holyness.
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