Module 2: Reflection Prompt

 My favorite prediction that Darwin's idea of descent with modification makes is that lineages split and diverge (speciation). I read an article on ScienceDaily by the University of Cambridge that presented compelling research supporting that statement. The overall claim of the article entitled "Going up: Birds and mammals evolve faster if their home is rising", is that topography is a major driver of evolution even more so than climate change, giving rise to circumstances where species can diverge into new ones. When land elevation increases, temperature decreases, and subsequently habitat complexity is enriched. Higher elevation, such in the case of mountains, can also create situations where species become reproductively isolated due to the fact that they can not inter-mix and move. When reproductive isolation occurs, it is a step towards the forming of new species. This isn't just now an important factor in evolution either. These scientists believe that elevation has played a role historically in creating the biodiversity of life we see today. Pretty cool stuff. 

I read another fascinating article on ScienceDaily as well, by Field Museum, discussing the classification and discovery of species of spotted skunks. As of late, scientists had concluded that there were only four total species of spotted skunks in existence. However, after collecting over 200 specimens and conducting more in depth genetic research on the DNA of spotted skunks, it became apparent that some of the animals considered to be the same, were drastically different on a genetic level. This led to the realization that there are at least seven distinct species of spotted skunks! Names that haven't been used in centuries are now being used. I find that to be completely amazing! Technology is constantly improving. That means we never have to stop learning and uncovering greater truths about our world. This article also proves how speciation can not only occur based on a phenotypic differences, but also through differences in genes and genotype. Certain skunks may have looked completely the same, but on a cellular level the dissimilarity was astronomical. Who knows what species of spotted skunks we may discover in the future.


Article 1: 



 

Article 2: 


Comments

  1. Tatum GlaserSeptember 6, 2021 at 8:01 PM

    Hi Emily! I think that the first article you chose has a great title! It is crazy to think that there are so many different environments within one region just due to elevation and all of the species that can produce! I learned in my ecology class that there are many species that look alike, like the cactus native to North America and the Euphoria native to Northern Africa which looks almost identical to the cactus but are actually not shared by a common species but rather look similar due to selection pressures. Speciation is a very interesting cause of evolution and we have a lot to still learn about it!

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  2. Celeste HammondSeptember 6, 2021 at 8:20 PM

    Hey Emily! I had no idea that topography played such a huge role in speciation and it's crazy to think that new species can arise from the smallest impacts. The fact that two organisms may be considered the same species based on their phenotypes, but are actually very different when looking at their genes is super interesting.

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  3. Megan BSeptember 10, 2021 at 7:33 PM

    This was very interesting Emily! People probably don't think of elevation first as a factor that drives evolution. The info about the spotted skunk was also cool. Its amazing what advances in genetics can do now these days, who knows what we'll be able to do with it in the future.

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