Christine Dell'Amore, National Geographic News
Published on January 7, 2013
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/130107-freshwater-fish-weird-animals-science-evolution/
Summary
The Nopili goby has the ability to complete the great feat of climbing up waterfalls; the fish, only an inch long, can make its way up a hundred feet along the rocks. Due to the freshwater environment of the fish, the organism must move upstream during a disturbance in the environment.
Richard Blob, an evolutionary biologist as Clemson University, and his students traveled to the fish's Hawaiian habitat. After the laborious process of catching one of these fish, the scientist filmed the fish climbing and the fish feeding on algae-covered glass. After analyzing the videos, the group found that the movements in both were overall the same. This means that at some time in the past, the organism had undergone exaptation, an evolutionary result where the structure or behavior of a species is also used for a completely different process. It is unknown which of the two came first.
Relevance
The article relates to our study of evolution because the Nopili goby evolved to use the suckers along its body and mouth to climb. Natural selection chose the fish who were able to climb, while the others would die during a change in the environment. These changes in environment are often caused by storms or other random natural disasters, which are examples of genetic drift.
What disturbances in the environment could cause these fish to move upstream? Also, can the suckers of the Nopili goby attach to rough surfaces as well as smooth ones?
ReplyDeleteWill food sources be a factor that Nopili goby evolved to use suckers along its body to "climb a waterfalls"?
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