Evolution Impact

February 5, 2009

Diversity can prove a powerful force. University of Florida researchers have documented the first example of the evolution of one species directly resulting in the evolution of another. In this case, as a species of fly turned into another species of fly to adapt to a new food source, the wasp that preys on the original fly changed species along with it. The findings also suggest that diversity or the loss of it can have serious impact.

Dr. Lukasz Stelinski/UF entomologist: “As we see these mass extinctions taking place all over the world, they likely have a significant impact on future potential cascading events that could have happened but never will.” (: 18)

The discovery comes on the eve of the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birthday. Darwin was the first to publish a comprehensive theory about evolution realizing that all species evolve over time from common ancestors by a process called natural selection.

Dr. Lukasz Stelinski/UF entomologist: “Darwin’s theories and all his work to date are so comprehensive and are so brilliant that in all of that it’s sometimes difficult to even find anything else of consequence.” (: 18)

Biologists have speculated about this concept of ‘co-speciation’; now they have proof that formation of one new species has a cascading effect in the ecosystem and along the food chain.