The study, which combined genetic analysis with a 19 - year - long selection experiment, supports the idea that the
mechanisms of adaptive evolution may be more predictable than previously suspected.
This is the first
example of adaptive evolution triggered by interspecies introgression in domesticated animals, which gave us a clue that introgression event between divergent species may be an important resource for evolutionary adaptation and could largely facilitate this process.
As a consequence, the importance
of adaptive evolution in plant and animal populations may have been underestimated thus far, especially when it comes to adaptations in response to rapid, anthropogenic, environmental change.
«In addition, many of the high - frequency sequences span genes involved in the immune system, which is a frequent
target of adaptive evolution.»
As the genetic
basis of those adaptive evolution remained largely unexplored, scientists of this article conducted whole - genome sequencing and selective sweep analysis trying to figure out the genetic basis contributed to the adaptation of domesticated Chinese pig breeds, especially related to thermostatic regulation for varying - latitude environments.
Likewise the beaks of Charles Darwin's Galapagos finches — to give perhaps the most famous
example of adaptive evolution — possess a variety of shapes and sizes tailor - made to feeding upon an assortment of seeds native to their particular habitats.