Monday, 8 October 2018

Family of rodents may explain how some groups of animals become so diverse

October 3, 2018
Source: Florida State University

How did a single species of rodent invade South America and then quickly branch off into 350 new species?

The answer is simple -- the rodents were able to move quickly across the continent unencumbered by geographic boundaries that can't be easily crossed such as an ocean.

FSU Professor of Biological Science Scott Steppan and his former postdoctoral researcher John Schenk, now at Georgia Southern University, developed a new model that shows how geography can play a major role in how families of animals evolve and result in many species. The research was part of a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to understand why the superfamily Muroidea (which includes the subfamily Sigmodontinae) is the most diverse branch of the mammal family tree.

The research is published in the journal American Naturalist.


No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis