Biologists experimentally trigger adaptive radiation

Using host-specific parasites isolated on individual pigeon 'islands,' the scientists showed that descendants of a single population of feather lice adapted rapidly in response to preening. They found that preening drives rapid and divergent camouflage in feather lice transferred to different colored rock pigeons. Over four years and 60 generations, the lice evolved heritable color differences that spanned the full color range of the lice genus found on 300 bird species worldwide.

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