*Please help with evolutionary biology questions* In 2010, Erica Rosenblum and c
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Question
*Please help with evolutionary biology questions*
In 2010, Erica Rosenblum and colleagues published a paper dissecting the molecular mechanisms for blanched coloration in three lizard species from White Sands, New Mexico. They found that the same underlying gene was responsible for lighter coloration in each lizard, but independent mutations in each gene contributed to the same resulting phenotype.
The three lizard species that were studied were unrelated; how is this relevant to testing whether the same molecular mechanism underlies the pattern of phenotypic convergence?
Would it be more common to observe convergence through different mutations for partial loss-of-function mutations or convergence through mutations that lead to gains-in-function?
What other cases of convergent evolution in phenotype can you think of that the approach of Rosenblum et al. might be applied to and why?
Explanation / Answer
a) A number of mammals have developed powerful fore claws and long, sticky tongues that allow them to open the homes of social insects (e.g., ants and termites) and consume them. These include the four species of ant eater, many armadillos, eight species of pangolin (plus fossil species), the African aardvark, one echidna (an egg-laying monotreme), the Fruitafossor of the Late Jurassic, the marsupial numbat, the aardwolf, and possibly also the sloth bear of South Asia, which are all unrelated to each other.
b) The Australian honey possums have acquired a long tongue for taking nectar from flowers, a structure similar to that of butterflies, some moths, and hummingbirds, and they all used to accomplish the same task, i.e collecting nectar.
c)Castorocauda, a Jurassic Period mammal and beavers both have webbed feet and a flattened tail, but they are not related to each other.
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