Pizzlies, Grolars and Capuccinos Reveal Frisky Bears Breed Across Species Borders
It has previously been assumed that the number of hybrids between polar and brown bears is increasing due to climate change, because brown bears invade northern regions and polar bears move onto the sea ice later than usual. The new results show however that an abundant flow of genes among different bear species occurred to a good deal in the past. Hybrids are thus not necessarily linked to climate change.
The detected gene flow among bears also questions the basic biological concept of a species. The biological species definition assumes that different species cannot produce offspring in the wild or that hybrid offspring are sterile. The best-known example of this is the mule – a hybrid between a horse and a donkey.
It is certain that the amazing progress of genomics and its technology will also question other fundamental principles of biology and fuel research. “Evolution creates genetic differences and adaptations, whether we call these differences species or not, is less important. What we must preserve, however, is genetic variation to protect diversity and to allow adaptation to future environmental changes”, Janke states.
Contacts and sources:
Citation: Kumar, V. et al. (2017): The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species. Scientific Reports 7, 46487, doi: 10.1038/srep46487
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2017/04/pizzlies-grolars-and-capuccinos-reveal.html
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