Sunday 2 October 2016

Artificial Habitat Islands and Genetic Drift

In the in the early part of the ninteen hundreds, perhaps earlier than the twenties, as a part of a mosquito control public health programme, guppies and gambusia fishes were introduced in to the thousands of open wells that existed in the old Bangalore area. These open wells have no connection to one another. And the introduced populations in the different wells would have been isolated from one another genetically. One can also safely assume that homogenous stocks got introduced in to all these wells since they were procured from select fish breeders overseas.

Have been telling fellow biologists for decades that since genetic drift is so prevalent, the isolation provided by the wells should have led to divergence. Especially so since it is over a century and there would have been umpteen number of fish generations. It should be a ripe area to look into from a speciation point of view. But it seems to have not had any takers though!

-
E&OE. KRISHNA MB.
making free time is culture!

No comments:

Post a Comment