能活到14岁的鸟,000 feet and also breed at sea level might have evolved more quickly than previously thought

Mountaineers who venture high into the Colorado Rockies have likely spotted medium-sized, brown-and-pink birds rummaging around on snow patches for insects and seeds. 这些高海拔的专家是玫瑰雀, a type of bird that’s evolved to survive in some of the most rugged places in North America.

研究ers are now beginning to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding these unique birds, including the genetic underpinnings that allow them to survive at elevations of up to 14,帮助确定它们羽毛的颜色.

Their findings suggest that the three recognized North American species of rosy-finches—the gray-crowned rosy-finch, the black rosy-finch and the brown-capped rosy-finch—may have evolved within the last 250,000年, 从进化的角度来看，哪个是相对较短的时期.

Scientists shared more details from their work in a new paper recently published in the journal Evolution.

“These results are adding to the way we think about population divergence and speciation,首席作者埃里克·芬克说, who recently earned his doctorate in evolutionary biology from the 博彩平台推荐 and now works as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

了解生物多样性

Even before Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859, 科学家们长期以来一直在思考地球丰富的生物多样性. 地球上是如何以及为什么会有这么多不同类型的生命? 这是一个他们还没有完全回答的问题, 多亏了最近基因测序技术的进步, 研究人员现在有了更深探测的新工具.

作为一个背包客和登山者, 芬克花了很多时间在科罗拉多州和加利福尼亚州的山区, 他经常看到红雀飞来飞去. But although they often inhabit and breed in high-elevation regions in the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada, 它们也在海平面上繁殖, such as along the Alaskan coast and among the Aleutian and Pribilof islands.

In addition to these breeding habit differences, the birds have varying feather colors and patterns. 有的体毛是棕色的，有的体毛是黑色的. Some have a gray patch on the crowns of their heads or on their cheeks, while others do not.

Funk wondered if analyzing the birds’ genomes could help explain some of these differences.

“We wanted to understand: Can we identify genetic regions that are responsible for generating the plumage color differences that exist in rosy-finches?他说. “还有一个博彩app推荐海拔差异的问题. Do the birds that live in Colorado possess some unique genetic differences that allow them to live at high elevations that the birds that live at sea level don’t have?”

Using blood and tissue samples from the University of Alaska Museum of the North, 丹佛自然科学博物馆以及2018年的一项实地研究, Funk created a whole genome dataset that encompassed the full geographic range and all the varying observable characteristics of North American rosy-finches. 在分析了数据之后, 他发现了独特的基因组区域, 可能, specific genes—that are probably playing a role in the birds’ trait differences.

例如, he found genetic differences between birds with and without gray cheek patches in a region of the genome that influences melanin pigments, 是什么赋予了羽毛颜色, 头发, 皮肤和眼睛. Comparing birds that breed at high elevations with those that breed at low elevations, he found genetic differences in a region that contains genes that play a role in a cell’s ability to operate at different oxygen levels.

The genes he linked with traits are all located in distinct regions of the birds’ genome, 也就是说, 随着时间的推移, 它们可以重新洗牌形成新的性状组合. This supports the theory that different rosy-finch populations likely evolved over a relatively short period of time.

“一般, we think of speciation as taking a long time—on the order of millions of years,芬克说。. “但如果所有这些变异都存在于红雀体内, and the genome is able to recombine these different genes to produce new trait combinations, 这可能会发生得更快. It’s a cool way to think about how different traits or trait combinations might be able to evolve and could have implications on the rate at which populations diverge and new species are generated.”

更多的知识，更有效的保护工作

总的来说，这些发现增加了科学家对生物多样性的理解. 但除此之外, they may also help inform conservation decisions in the face of human-caused climate change.

Brown-capped rosy-finches, 他们主要生活在科罗拉多州, 正在经历人口下降和, 像这样, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has identified them as a species of greatest conservation need.

帮助稳定或增加鸟类的数量, scientists and conservationists want to know as much about them as possible—and even genetic knowledge could be helpful.

“Understanding what led to the rapid generation of these different phenotypes, 它们是如何联系在一起的以及它们背后的基因变异, allows us to better understand how rapidly evolution can generate differences,该研究的合著者斯科特·泰勒说, a CU Boulder associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and the director of the Mountain 研究 Station.

“And maybe understanding that will help us better understand how these populations might respond to population collapses or changing environments into the future.”