‘Survival of the fittest’ study to be used to protect species from extinction
have proven one of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution – survival of the fittest – for the first time.
A researcher at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, found mammal subspecies play a more important role in evolution than previously thought.
A species is a group of animals that can interbreed freely amongst themselves. Some species contain subspecies – populations within a species that differ from each other with different physical traits and their own breeding ranges. Northern giraffes have three subspecies that usually live in different locations to each other, while red foxes have the most subspecies – 45 known varieties – spread all over the world. Humans have no subspecies. Lead author, Laura van Holstein,
a PHD student in biological anthropology, said: “We are standing on the shoulders of giants.
“In chapter three of On The Origin Of Species, Darwin said animal lineages with more species should also contain more ‘varieties’. ’Subspecies’ is the modern definition.
“My research investigating the relationship between species and the variety of subspecies proves that subspecies play a critical role in long-term evolutionary dynamics and in future evolution of species.
“And they always have, which is what Darwin suspected when he was defining what a species actually was.”
It is thought her research could now be used to predict which species conservationists should focus on protecting to stop them becoming endangered or extinct.
Ms van Holstein confirmed Darwin’s hypothesis by looking at data gathered by natuscientists ralists over hundreds of years – long before Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands on board HMS Beagle.
In On The Origin Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection, Darwin argued that organisms gradually evolved through a process called natural selection, often known as “survival of the fittest”.
The work was considered highly controversial because it contradicted the Bible’s account of creation.