genetic basis for species
John Shuey
jshuey at TNC.ORG
Tue Apr 2 09:25:49 EST 2002
To build on this, people should look at a paper just published in
Conservation Biology 16:148-157. Conservation genetics, extinction, and
taxonomic status: a case history of the regal fritillary (Barry Wilson).
In a nutshell, Wilson finds that the PA population of S. idalia is a
"distinct evolutionary lineage" when compared to populations from Illinois
westward. (I won't get into the reasons that may explain this - which are
discussed in detail in the paper).
So, here you have a population that based on phenotype - wouldn't pass the
subspecies test, but based on mitochondrial haplotypes, has 5
synapomorphies. This thing meets the criteria as an "Evolutionarily
Significant Unit", much as do all the different runs of salmon in the
Pacific Northwest (by the way, a group that no-one has mentioned in the
splitting debate so far).
So there!
John A. Shuey
Director of Conservation Science
Indiana Office of The Nature Conservancy
1505 N Delaware Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
317.951.8818
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