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| Golden "Jackal" Wolf |
Monday, August 3, 2015
Overlooked Biodiversity
Scientist have made a slight mistake on the biodiversity of Canidae, otherwise known as canines. A recent study has shown that the East African "golden jackal" is actually a "golden wolf". Jackals and wolves are two different species; varying in their hunting habits, socialization skills, and size. This comes to a shock to many because of the size, habits, and body structure of the canine was very similar to the Eurasian jackal species. Mitochondrial DNA was collected from both species and it was found that despite the outside appearance of the "golden jackal", the DNA was found to be very similar to the wolf species. This is due to the two different lineages evolving over millions of years across Africa, Eurasia, and the Middle East. The two lineages evolved separately for so long that they are not found to be related at all. I found this article interesting because there seems to always be room for error, even in the biodiversity of well-known species such as the canidae.
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It's incredible that even after knowing a species for so long, we find out one piece of evidence that changes such a paradigm. It's also very interesting that a species can share many physical traits with one genera, but actually belong to another.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many other species we consider to be totally different are actually more related to one another than we thought. The increase of DNA sequencing will really help us make a more complete phylogenetic tree of life that is more focused on DNA coding rather than outward appearances and clear up discrepancies we might have, like the example that this article provides.
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