Buck503
11-18-2006, 12:50 AM
Short Legs Win Evolution Battle
In a reptilian version of "Survivor," lizards with longer legs ultimately get booted from islands by their short-legged opponents.
Countering the widespread view of evolution (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=117cletjo/*http://www.livescience.com/evolution/) as an eon-long process, evolutionary biologists discovered that when island lizards were exposed to a new predator, natural selection (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=1245k3kut/*http://www.livescience.com/othernews/051109_evolution_science.html) occurred in a six-month period, first favoring longer and then shorter hind legs.
The findings are detailed in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Science.
Brown anolis (Anolis sagrei) lizards (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=121p5e5tt/*http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/061005_lizard_tails.html) spend much of their time on the ground. But as previous studies have shown, when a ground-dwelling, predatory lizard is introduced, the anoles scamper up trees. They switch to an arboreal lifestyle to escape being eaten.
for more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061117/sc_livescience/shortlegswinevolutionbattle
In a reptilian version of "Survivor," lizards with longer legs ultimately get booted from islands by their short-legged opponents.
Countering the widespread view of evolution (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=117cletjo/*http://www.livescience.com/evolution/) as an eon-long process, evolutionary biologists discovered that when island lizards were exposed to a new predator, natural selection (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=1245k3kut/*http://www.livescience.com/othernews/051109_evolution_science.html) occurred in a six-month period, first favoring longer and then shorter hind legs.
The findings are detailed in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Science.
Brown anolis (Anolis sagrei) lizards (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/shortlegswinevolutionbattle/20977936/SIG=121p5e5tt/*http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/061005_lizard_tails.html) spend much of their time on the ground. But as previous studies have shown, when a ground-dwelling, predatory lizard is introduced, the anoles scamper up trees. They switch to an arboreal lifestyle to escape being eaten.
for more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061117/sc_livescience/shortlegswinevolutionbattle