It sounds almost too good to be true that you can come up with something so definitive based on information from just one or a few individuals. So - according to the researchers behind the study in PNAS - it wasn't just the Europeans' fault. We may have pushed the passenger pigeons off the cliff, but the species was already on its way there. People were just the final factor in their demise. Using this method, researchers found that the number of passenger pigeons was in free fall even before the arrival of the Europeans.Īlthough the species might not have become extinct, it would have shrunk significantly in any case, maybe to only a few hundred thousand individuals. You should therefore be able to see how the species developed over many generations, and estimate how many individuals there were at any given time, all based on a single genome. The PSMC method can use the information in the genes of a single individual of a species to map the history of the species. (In the last case, it's remarkable that you can read this.) Unless, that is, you have an identical twin or are a termite or belong to another species where the individuals are largely identical clones. So, all of your chromosomes and genes are found in this one genome, but at the same time this genome is unique to just you and only you. These can be broken down into chromosomes and genes and base pairs, but you only have a single genome. You have a genome, your mom has her own genome, your dog has one and the neighbour's cat has yet another. ![]() And now we have to concentrate a bit.Īll of an individual's genes are called a genome. Studies of the genetic variation of the species using an investigative method called PSMC formed the background for these assertions. The population was plummeting long before Europeans arrived, and perhaps Europeans even contributed to a short-term increase in numbers. When the Europeans arrived, the species was already in a strong decline. ![]() The population of the species varied greatly, similar to lemmings, but over a longer period of time. The researchers asserted that despite their enormous numbers, the passenger pigeons were already in trouble.
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