Below is an example of how weird and rapid evolution can be. I have to
wonder how often this has happened in the past and how invisible it would
beto a paleontologist with nothing but hard parts as fossils and the lack
of temporal resolution in the geologic record.
This Mutant Crayfish Clones Itself, and It’s Taking Over Europe
Carl Zimmer. New York Times, Feb. 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/science/mutant-crayfish-clones-europe.html
Decoding the mutant, all-female, self-cloning crayfish
Kevin Bersett, University of Illinois, September 12, 2018
https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2018/09/decoding-the-mutant-all-female-self-cloning-crayfish
The Genetic Mystery Of The Invasive Crayfish Clones, Science Friday
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-genetic-mystery-of-the-invasive-crayfish-clones/
the paper is:
Gutekunst, J., Andriantsoa, R., Falckenhayn, C., Hanna, K.,
Stein, W., Rasamy, J. and Lyko, F., 2018. Clonal genome
evolution and rapid invasive spread of the marbled crayfish.
Nature ecology & evolution, 2(3), p.567.
https://forum.breastcarenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Gutekunst-et-al.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0467-9
Maybe it is time for a crayfish broil.
Yours,
Paul H.