population genetics Archives

What Lake Sturgeon genetics reveal about population structures

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The freshwater fish Lake Sturgeon experienced drastic population declines across North America beginning approximately 150 years ago. Although commercial harvest has since ceased, many populations have been slow to recover. Stocking programs have been used to help recover the species, but they need to be approached cautiously as populations of fish that have been isolated for thousands of years may […]

Investigating paedomorphism in the evolution of L. saxatilis

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Littorina saxatilis is a species of marine gastropods found on the intertidal rocky shores of Western Europe.

Littorina saxatilis (rough periwinkle) is often used as an example of adaptation to different ecological niches, with ecotypes adapted to life at different levels of the seashore. Professor Emilio Rolán-Alvarez and his colleagues at the University of Vigo, Spain, investigate whether one ecotype may have evolved from another by paedomorphosis. Their results indicate that, while there is some evidence in […]