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Cramer 1

Nathan Cramer!

COLWRIT 161!

23 April 2017!

Three-Spined Science!

! Evolution often triggers images of old, dusty bone fragments, once belonging to crea-

tures of prehistoric yore. To others, namely politicians, it remains a subject of educational con-

troversy. However, for the biologists in the Miller Lab at UC Berkeley, evolution is found in an

unlikely place, or critter: the humble three-spined stickleback fish.!

! What would a tiny fish have to do with evolution? Sticklebacks offer evolutionary biolo-

gists a living example of the phenomenon. These fish are a snapshot of evolution, mid-stride. In

order to better understand this, lets take a quick trip to the end of the last Ice Age, around

10,000 years before you read this article. This may seem like a while, but its a blink in terms of

evolutionary history. As the Ice Age ended, melting glaciers revealed new freshwater bodies,

and some marine-dwelling sticklebacks colonized these new habitats. These pioneer popula-

tions remained in relative isolation. As time passed, freshwater and marine lineages diverged,

physically and genetically.!

The journey of marine sticklebacks to freshwater regions resulted in a loss of armor
and a gain in teeth. Different freshwater regions host different lineages of sticklebacks.
Have you ever spotted any of them?
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! However, the story does not end there. Scientists find that many freshwater populations

in different locations share commonly evolved characteristics, including a lack of armor plating.

This is an example of convergent evolution, the acquisition of similar evolved traits in different

lineages. Typically, convergent evolution occurs over large time scales, between widely unrelat-

ed organisms. For instance, bats and birds both share wings, but these structures emerged in-

dependently of each other. !

Marine (above) and Freshwater (below)

David Kingsley, Modified from Cuvier

! The same is true of the sticklebacks, though over a much shorter time. The common an-

cestors of these freshwater fish still remain, alive and well, in their original marine environments.

Furthermore, these relatives may interbreed, allowing for experimental crossing in captivity. !

! In the Miller Lab, researchers focus on the teeth of marine and freshwater sticklebacks.

The latter populations are not afraid to show their teeth; after all, they have a lot more than their

marine counterparts. Like the loss of armor, this common trait roots from the migration of stick-

lebacks to freshwater habitats. Scientists think these teeth are a result of the new diet for these

fish. However, the most interesting aspect of this tooth gain lies in the DNA of different freshwa-

ter stickles. For each independent occurrence, a different part of their genome evolved. If youre

confused, try to imagine a genome as a messy, yet extensive toolbox, with many different tools

that can do the same job. For these sticklebacks, separate tools, or genetic loci, were selected
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and altered to increase teeth. In essence, this means there are multiple ways for these fish to

evolve the same trait, which seems, in unscientific terms, miraculous.!

! From what weve learned about convergent evolution, we know that this is not a miracle.

In fact, this finding shows a clear example of the phenomenon. So remember: the next time you

catch a glimpse of a stickleback in any river, lake, or ocean, you are looking upon a relic of re-

cent evolution. If you still have any doubts, do not take it from me. These facts come straight

from the sticklebacks mouth.!

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