Researchers, Vladimir Lukhtanov and Alexander
Dantchenko, have recently discovered a new species of butterfly in Russia. Named
the South-Russian blue (Polyommatus
australorossicus), the butterfly was found flying over the northern slopes
of the Caucasus mountains in southern Russia. Previously, the population of
South-Russian blues was believed to be a common blue butterfly species. However,
in the mid-nineties, Lukhtanov began studying every species of Russian
butterflies with the goals of learning more about their ecology and biology. Then,
in 1997, Dantchenko began sampling butterflies from the northern slopes of the
Caucasus mountains. Dantchenko identified the butterflies as Azerbaijani blue
(Polyommatus aserbeidschanus).
However,
when the scientists got together and began looking at different butterflies
under the microscope, they found that the butterflies had a very unusual
chromosome count, 46, which is the same number as humans. For the next 20
years, until 2017, the researchers have been studying the chromosomes of more
than a hundred blue butterfly species. In addition, the researchers have also
sequenced the DNA from all closely related species of butterflies. They have
finally concluded that these butterflies comprise a new species, the
South-Russian blue (Polyommatus
australorossicus).
The
researchers have discovered that the caterpillars of genetically related species
feed on different, but very similar plants. This discovery will help scientists
discover new butterfly species with the help of botanic information, in
addition to helping protect and conserve all butterfly species.
I think that this discovery is amazing. These two
researchers have dedicated twenty years of their lives to identifying a new
species. It is crazy to think that we may have many more species on the planet
than we think we do. If two butterfly experts can think that two different species
are actually the same, then many other people are probably making the same
mistake with different organisms. This
research could help scientists discover new species, in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment