Research
Jellyfish study shows scientists that evolution may be ‘much more predictable than we expected’
Earth.com · By Eric Ralls ·
The Brief
- Biologists have long assumed it is very rare for two species separated for millions of years to independently develop the same genetic changes.
- A new study of the DNA of ancient jellyfish reports that evolution repeats itself, according to Earth.com's coverage.
- The coverage frames the finding as suggesting evolution may be more predictable than expected.
Why it matters
If independent lineages repeatedly arrive at the same genetic changes, it challenges a common assumption about how predictable evolution is, which matters for researchers studying convergent evolution and genome-based inference.
Who’s affected
- evolutionary biologists
- genomics researchers
- #evolution
- #genomics
- #jellyfish
- #convergent-evolution
- #predictability
Biologists have always assumed that it is incredibly rare for two different species to independently develop the exact same genetic changes after being separated for millions of years. However, a new study looking at the DNA of ancient jellyfish shows that evolution repeats…