Low Genetic Diversity: The Koala

With only two hundred and fifty to three hundred left, the critically endangered Cross River Gorilla roams the African forests while on the brink of extinction (Save Our Species). Africa has many populations of primates that are at the least endangered, and the Cross River Gorilla is the closest to extinction and the least studied due to the rarity of observing them. (Save Our Species). These gorillas are confined to small, mountainous areas that have been separated over and over again by fragmentation, furthermore ruining the needed social aspect of the groups and need for vast land (Imong, I., & Robbins, M.), (Save Our Species) The increased hunting and fragmentation of these Gorilla’s habitats has caused a large problem with how the

Survival: Some species have higher survival rates than others because they are more adaptable to new conditions and aren’t a completely specialized species like the Koala. For example the platypus has survived over millions of years because it has learnt to adapt to its changing environment rather than dying off because it can’t cope with environmental change.

Introduction This first lecture is designed to introduce the primate order in terms of its classification and to familiarise you with the animals so that the rest of the course makes some sort of sense. I will cover a working definition of what makes a primate, give you a general classification scheme, describe the major features that identify the groups within the classification and discuss some of the controversial areas of the classification. I shall treat the taxonomy as a synonym for classification which seems to be its commonest current usage, although you should be aware that some people consider taxonomy to be more about the principles behind the classification than the classification itself.

The bonobo has pink lips, a black face, and black hair that parts straight down the middle of its head. It has tuff, black fur. It’s smaller, leaner, and darker than its cousin, the chimpanzee. Females weigh about 63 pounds and males weigh about 85 pounds. Male bonobos grow to be about 4 feet tall and females grow to be about 3.5 feet tall. They usually live to be about 60 years old. They eat fruits, leaves, flowers, insects, and small mammals. They are secondary consumers because they eat small mammals (primary consumers), leaves (producer), and bonobos are being hunted by humans.

The concept of species going extinct was not always accepted as fact. It wasn’t until the discovery of the American mastodon that the concept of extinction was even considered. With the discovery of the bones, When the bones were discovered, many theories were constructed, such as that the bones were actually from multiple creatures, or that this was simply an undiscovered species and hadn’t been found. The discovery of other mysterious, lost species led to the concept of extinction, and the idea that the mammoth was indeed a species that, while it once was prevalent, no longer roamed the Earth. In chapter three, Kolbert writes about her visit to Iceland in which she learned about the loss of the great auk, a three foot tall bird reminiscent of a large penguin or puffin. She then proceeds to write the tragedy of the great auks, that being that they were regularly hunted and killed. The final moments of the great auk’s species can be tracked down, as they were captured and sold and their only egg was broken. The concept of human-caused extinctions wasn’t new, as Darwin wrote about how the Galápagos tortoises were dying out very rapidly due to overhunting. The extinction of species stems from events that drastically affect them, be them environmental changes to human

Arnold, P. (2009, December 4). Endangered Species Tasmanian Devil: Low Genetic Diversity as a Factor of the Tasmanian Devil as an Endangered Species. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/13897.aspx

Among the many different marsupials in the world, there is one that stands out and is recognized, not only for its looks, but also for the hardships that it deals with in being a koala. The koala originated in Australia, and was discovered by trappers around the time of 1798. Many rare and exotic animals have been found in Australia, because of its remoteness and isolation from most of the civilized world. Australia has been described as a huge ark, a giant lifeboat, cut off from contact with the rest of the world and carrying with it a group of unique creatures (Serventy 1975). The creatures that inhabit Australia are made up of many different classifications of animal groups that have found themselves all living

Evolution is a change in genes of a population over time. Speciation is a process of gene changes which causes one population to become two unique populations. Speciation can be illustrated using the Lemurs of Madagascar as an example. Evidence suggests that Lemurs originated in Africa before separating to Madagascar where they then underwent speciation and became a now minimum of 50 species of lemur (Berkeley, 2015). This occurred as previous to the continental drift Madagascar was attached to Africa and therefore did not move a far distance away. Whilst there is no evidence which suggests that lemurs were on Madagascar before the separation there is some which represents that a lemur travelled to the island after

Australia have many animals that comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. They all have different ways of adapting to the environment. In Australia, they have more than 378 mammal species. Some stay in trees and some stay on land.

This graph reflects genotype frequency over time and the domination of the gray squirrel (bb) population; they are almost 1 times to 4 times more than black squirrel populations (both BB &Bb) over generations. The black squirrel populations (both BB &Bb) is more stand out in the wooded environment, that’s why they become very noticeable to their predators. The situation becomes worsen during the colder months, the grayish trees give more advantage to gray squirrel (bb) population. Since the gray squirrel (bb) population is covered by grayish trees, black squirrel populations (both BB &Bb) are too obvious and become main target of the predators. Therefore, the black squirrel populations (both BB &Bb) size is keep decreasing; they almost extinct

Genetic diversity is essential for a healthy population, and conservationists believe that the introduction of eight bulls to Addo from the Kruger National Park, will not only increase the diversity of the gene pool but reintroduce a dominant tusk gene (SANParks Media Release, 1). The bulls selected were also not known to be aggressive towards other elephants and humans as park officials did not want to introduce behavior inconsistent with those of the Addo elephants. To ensure that these 8 bulls have a greater chance of becoming dominant and adding their genes into the Addo herds, officials relocated a number of dominant Addo males into other parks.

The genetic diversity of some populations in this study differed with previous studies using microsatellites markers and mitochondrial DNA. In general, a study showed lower genetic diversity in southern populations than northern populations following a genetic bottleneck (Houlden, England, Taylor, Greville, & Sherwin, 1996), however, similar pattern was not seen in this study. Northern population had uHe ranged from 0.192±0.006 to 0.247±0.006 and 60.88% to 77.71% polymorphic loci while the southern had uHe ranged from 0.16±0.006 to 0.256±0.006 and 53.18% to 91.32% polymorphic loci. In a previous study, the South Gippsland population was shown to have higher genetic diversity than other Victorian populations and genetically distinct in

Finches have become almost synonymous with the concept of natural selection, thanks to Charles Darwin. But, while he may have come up with the theory that the finches automatically choose the traits that will benefit their existence, he didn’t really provide any solid proof of this actually happening. Of course you can assume it does because of adaptation and evolution, but it would take more than a few weeks to really get concrete evidence of this happening. Fortunately, Rosemary and Peter Grant provide us with the evidence to support the theory of evolution and natural selection. They head back to the Galapagos Islands to pick up where Darwin left off and find out what really goes on in the process of the

In the case of ring species, natural selection and sexual selection each play a role in the divergence of ring species. Selective pressures allowed one phenotype to survive better than others in a certain area; sexual selection could cause divergence because organisms choose mates based on phenotypes. In the case of salamanders, natural selection affected divergence because organisms with certain coloration survived better in coastal or inland environments. In warblers, sexual selection and natural selection seem to play a part in the divergence of the ring species, as forest density and migration distance is variable and affects survival of the species. Molecular and morphological evidence can be used to support multiple species by showing

it is colder in the south. The koala has only one relative, the wombat. Koalas