• People/scientists have trouble figuring out why the planet is so full of speciation.
• Researchers studying a family of butterflies think they’ve witnessed a subtle process, which could be forcing a wedge between newly formed species. Through a process called “ Reinforcement” butterflies prevent closely related species from interbreeding, driving them further apart genetically and enforcing specialization.
• For speciation to occur, two branches of the same species must stop breeding with one another for long enough to grow apart genetically.
• The other mechanism that can theoretically divide a species is "reproductive isolation". This occurs when organisms are not separated physically, but "choose" not to breed with each other
• Scientist’s found that if closely related species of Butterflies are geographically separate, they tend to look quite similar. That is to say, they do not display a distinctive "team strip". But if similarly closely related species are living side-by-side, the researchers noticed, they frequently look strikingly different - their "teams" are clearly advertised.
Reflection
I chose this story because the title of the sounded interesting to me. Another reason I picked this article was because I didn’t think anyone body else would pick it. This article showed me that everyday we get closer to discovering the key secrets behind evolution. But no matter how close scientist get to discovery the true secrets of Evolution there will always be people that don’t believe in it. But it is still very important that scientists research and look into evolution so that people as a whole know as much as possible about the past.
Link:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4708459.stm
Picture: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/3200/3236/butterfly_3_lg.gif
Citation: Kettlewell, Julianna. "Butterfly Unlocks Evolution Secret." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. BBC News, 24 July 2005. Web. 17 May 2010.
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