The evolutionary process that occurs when a species colonizes a new environment provides an opportunity to explore the mechanisms underlying genetic adaptation, which is essential knowledge for understanding evolution and the maintenance of biodiversity. An international team of scientists, led by researchers from Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, reports that a single amino acid change in the light-sensing rhodopsin protein played a critical role when herring adapted to the red-shifted light environment in the Baltic Sea. Remarkably about one third of all fish living in brackish or freshwater carry the same change. The study is published today in PNAS.
Click here for original story, How the herring adapted to the light environment in the Baltic Sea
Source: Phys.org