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A PhD student proved one of Darwin's theories of evolution 140 years after his death - CNN
Fascinating stuff here, you should give it a read.
Fascinating stuff here, you should give it a read.
Nearly 140 years after his death, a University of Cambridge researcher has found strong evidence that one of Darwin's hypotheses is true. That hypothesis states that a species belonging to a larger genus should also include more subspecies.
The graduate student, Laura van Holstein, was able to prove this using a tool Darwin didn't have: Data modeling.
"I've just reported evidence in favor of a hunch of good old Darwin's," van Holstein, a biological anthropology PhD student at Cambridge and study lead author, told CNN. "I think this has big implications for evolutionary biology."
Darwin's subspecies theory
To understand the significance of this development, it's best to start with a refresher on the following taxonomy (or naming conventions): genus, species and subspecies.
- A genus is a group of animals with similar traits. This can include multiple species. For example, most bears belong to the genus Ursus.
- A species is a group of similar animals that can interbreed and exchange genes to reproduce. The brown bear is a species under the Ursus umbrella.
- A subspecies is a group within a species that looks phenotypically different from the rest of the species and has its own breeding range that doesn't overlap with the rest of the species. A grizzly bear is a subspecies of brown bear.
Darwin predicted that species in a larger genus should also include more subspecies. But he never elaborated on why.