New butterfly species discovered in Russia with an unusual set of 46 chromosomes

       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.

Article

Original Article in Comparative Cytogenetics

New Species of Clam Found in Michigan River

A new invasive clam was found in the Illinois River, about 80 miles west of the Michigan River. This new rn aside species brings a lot of questions to mind regarding how exactly it got to the United States of America. Research indicates the species to be in the genus Corbicula, descending from Vancouver and making its way to North America by Asian immigrants. The clams themselves remained a vital source of food for those traveling to America, but the new discovery does not see to be a good one. For starters exact identification is tricky because the sexual reproduction of these clams can start from just a single clam, as a clam can self fertilize itself if it has both male and female sex organs. These clams are also capable of mating with clams within the same taxa, not just species. Another problem this clam brings is a change to the current ecosystem in which it resides. It provides a challenge to other species of clams, even a recently federal endangered species, as they share the same nutrients and food supply. It is marvelous that this one clam species has made its way thousands of miles for new habitation, but undoubtedly it reals havoc on current and future ecosystems in this area and across the nations coast.

Original Article

Don't eat them raw if at all, deadly bacteria!!!

New 'Tree of Life' Diagram

A team of scientists have recently recreated the "Tree of Life" diagram. They extended the amount of organisms primarily under the bacteria branch because they have found such a vast amount in mud of meadow-lands. They pulled pieces of their DNA to be analyzed through a separated that separated each entry to create the new diagram. The new tree has a thinner branch for eukaryotes with archaeabacteria being shown as having a closer relationship between the two. They have selected 3,000 species to be on this new tree with over 1,000 being newly discovered species. However there is speculation that some of these species could be chimera which would have a mixture of DNA from more than one organism. There is also the debate of whether the bacteria branch has begun to plateau or if there is an astoundingly larger amount out to still be discovered.

Aesthetically, the tree looks a lot more interesting than what Darwin's original "Tree of Life" from his 1859 book "On the Origin of Species". There is so much more to the new diagram, and it gives a better idea of how vast the amount of bacteria there are especially in comparison to eukaryotes such as mammals. I believe that there are more bacteria to be discovered that will only belittle the amount currently depicted. With the advancement of technology discovering new species should be simple. I do find it peculiar how archaeabacteria is actually more closely related to eukaryotes as opposed to bacteria. Archaeabacteria seem like very simple organisms that do not have the same complexity of eukaryotes.

Figure 1. New "Tree of Life" Diagram.

Figure 2. Darwin's Original "Tree of Life" Diagram