Unlike malicious American safari hunters such as Donald Trump's sons who take the best specimens they can find, evolution usually works by killing off the weakest of the breed so the strongest are the ones who survive.
That is not how a type of infectious tumor is working out for Tasmanian Devils since it's attacking the strongest and most aggressive individuals in their population. (Phys.org: Not survival of the fittest for Tassie devils)
Fit and healthy Tasmanian devils are being taken down by deadly facial tumors that are attacking the 'best' animals. Credit: Creative commons.
- PO
The Tasmanian Devil is generally your average rodent-like creature but it does have fine-looking fur and it's got the coolest name on the block.
Fit and healthy Tasmanian devils are being taken down by deadly facial tumors that are attacking the 'best' animals in the population, according to novel research led by Griffith University.
The research, published in the scientific journal Ecology Letters, shows that devils that catch devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) have higher survival and reproductive rates prior to disease-induced death than individuals that do not become infected.
Typically infectious diseases affect mostly older, younger, or less healthy individuals. However, the team of scientists from Australia and the US, led by Dr Konstans Wells of Griffith's Environmental Futures Research Institute (EFRI), found that devils with higher fitness are at highest risk of infection and death from facial tumours.
- PO
Evolution hardly ever works that way but we do have another example. Some of the worst of the flu epidemics didn't so much slaughter the old and weak but the young and healthy were among the most vulnerable. Screw around with flu shots if you like but make no mistake about the disease easily killing you when it's done that so much in the past. Your youth won't make you invulnerable to that one.
"We don't know quite why this is the case, but a good hypothesis is that what's going on is that it's the socially dominant animals that are most likely to contract the disease, because they initiate most of the aggressive and mating encounters and we know that the disease is spread by biting."
Professor Andrew Storfer, of Washington State University, said the study also revealed how resistance to the disease may be evolving.
"Our results show a recent decline in the likelihood that devils become infected. This could indicate some evolving resistance of devils to the cancer, as recently shown by researchers from our team," he said.
- PO
That result was predictable except for the part about the disease seems to be fading.
The good professor needs to reassemble the team because we want to know if there has been a behavioral change in the creatures they affectionately call Tassies. Did the evolution change the behavior for these creatures so there is less biting as part of their social relationships.
If so, can we use it on Republicans.
Maestro, rim shot, please.
That is not how a type of infectious tumor is working out for Tasmanian Devils since it's attacking the strongest and most aggressive individuals in their population. (Phys.org: Not survival of the fittest for Tassie devils)
Fit and healthy Tasmanian devils are being taken down by deadly facial tumors that are attacking the 'best' animals. Credit: Creative commons.
- PO
The Tasmanian Devil is generally your average rodent-like creature but it does have fine-looking fur and it's got the coolest name on the block.
Fit and healthy Tasmanian devils are being taken down by deadly facial tumors that are attacking the 'best' animals in the population, according to novel research led by Griffith University.
The research, published in the scientific journal Ecology Letters, shows that devils that catch devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) have higher survival and reproductive rates prior to disease-induced death than individuals that do not become infected.
Typically infectious diseases affect mostly older, younger, or less healthy individuals. However, the team of scientists from Australia and the US, led by Dr Konstans Wells of Griffith's Environmental Futures Research Institute (EFRI), found that devils with higher fitness are at highest risk of infection and death from facial tumours.
- PO
Evolution hardly ever works that way but we do have another example. Some of the worst of the flu epidemics didn't so much slaughter the old and weak but the young and healthy were among the most vulnerable. Screw around with flu shots if you like but make no mistake about the disease easily killing you when it's done that so much in the past. Your youth won't make you invulnerable to that one.
"We don't know quite why this is the case, but a good hypothesis is that what's going on is that it's the socially dominant animals that are most likely to contract the disease, because they initiate most of the aggressive and mating encounters and we know that the disease is spread by biting."
Professor Andrew Storfer, of Washington State University, said the study also revealed how resistance to the disease may be evolving.
"Our results show a recent decline in the likelihood that devils become infected. This could indicate some evolving resistance of devils to the cancer, as recently shown by researchers from our team," he said.
- PO
That result was predictable except for the part about the disease seems to be fading.
The good professor needs to reassemble the team because we want to know if there has been a behavioral change in the creatures they affectionately call Tassies. Did the evolution change the behavior for these creatures so there is less biting as part of their social relationships.
If so, can we use it on Republicans.
Maestro, rim shot, please.
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