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Regressive Evolution In The Mexican Cave Tetra, Astyanax Mexicanus, Meredith E. Protas, Melissa Conrad, Joshua B. Gross, Clifford Tabin, Richard Borowsky
Regressive Evolution In The Mexican Cave Tetra, Astyanax Mexicanus, Meredith E. Protas, Melissa Conrad, Joshua B. Gross, Clifford Tabin, Richard Borowsky
Meredith Protas
Cave adapted animals generally have reduced pigmentation and eyes, but the evolutionary forces driving the reductions are unknown; Darwin famously questioned the role of natural selection in eye loss in cave fishes; “As it is difficult to imagine that eyes, although useless, could be in any way injurious to animals living in darkness, I attribute their loss wholly to disuse” [1]. We studied the genetic basis of this phenomenon in the Mexican cave tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, by mapping the quantitative trait loci (QTL) determining differences in eye/lens sizes and melanophore number between cave and surface fish. In addition, we mapped …