45 Vogel-Genome wurden vollständig sequenziert aus möglichst allen Zweigen des Vogel-Stammbaums.

45 Vogel-Genome wurden vollständig sequenziert aus möglichst allen Zweigen des Vogel-Stammbaums.

Zwei auffallende Besonderheiten:

" “birds basically underwent a rapid radiation of speciation soon after the mass extinction of dinosaurs.” This large-scale extinction—likely caused by an asteroid hitting Earth—also wiped out most bird species. But a few closely related species remained, which then spread the globe filling ecological niches with little competition—an evolutionary Big Bang. The surviving species “were so closely related to each other,” said Jarvis, “that now, 66 million years later, it is hard to figure out their deep relationships.” "

"The results (...) reveal why avian genomes tend to be small compared to those of other vertebrates: because they have lost a lot of genes and have far fewer repeat sequences."

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1. http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/41645/title/Bird-Genomes-Abound/