The Hindu : International : A new species takes birth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004

International

International

A new species takes birth

London: Scientists are staking out part of Britain's coastline to monitor the apparent birth of a new species — an exceptionally unusual chance to record evolution in action. Research on the ``fossil coast'' of Yorkshire in north-eastern England — famous for a string of geological breakthroughs — has discovered two colonies of sea-snails which are almost certainly dividing to form a distinct new species. The grey-brown rough periwinkle Littorina saxatilis is described modestly by the team as ``unremarkable and lacking charisma'', but it stands to earn a place in the textbooks. ``We are increasingly certain that we are seeing one species become two,'' said John Grahame, a biologist at Leeds University, who is leading the project. The snail is found by the million on beaches. Two different ``morphs'' of Littorina saxatilis occupy different areas of foreshore, and are moving steadily apart after centuries of communal life and interbreeding. Observations will continue while modern DNA-testing techniques build up a more detailed picture of the snails' genes than has been possible in the past. ``There are alternative explanations for what is going on and the process could easily be reversed,'' said Dr. Grahame. ``The point of no return, when we can truly say a new species has been born, will come when there is no interbreeding at all, and no gene-flow between the morphs.'' Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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