Source: Stanford University
Our earliest mammalian ancestors likely skulked through the dark, using their powerful night-time vision to find food and avoid reptilian predators that hunted by day. This conclusion, published by Stanford researchers April 21 in Scientific Reports, used genetic data to support existing fossil evidence suggesting that our distant relatives may have adapted to life in the dark.
The team, led by Liz Hadly, professor of biology and senior author on the paper, examined genes involved in night vision in animals throughout the evolutionary tree, looking for places where those genes became enhanced.
"This method is like using the genome as a fossil record, and with it we've shown when genes involved in night vision appear," Hadly said. "It's a very powerful way of corroborating a story that has been, up to now, only hypothesized."
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The team, led by Liz Hadly, professor of biology and senior author on the paper, examined genes involved in night vision in animals throughout the evolutionary tree, looking for places where those genes became enhanced.
"This method is like using the genome as a fossil record, and with it we've shown when genes involved in night vision appear," Hadly said. "It's a very powerful way of corroborating a story that has been, up to now, only hypothesized."
Continued
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