Download Does climate Change Drive Evolution

Does Climate Change Drive Evolution?
A
team
of
scientists
are
Australian
and
collaborating
Indian
on
the
question: Does climate change drive
evolution?
The Australian Team Leader, Professor
David Lambert explains how he came to
apply for funding from the AustraliaIndia Strategic Research Fund (AISRF)
through previous collaborations with the
Indian
Team
Leader,
Dr
Swaminathan.
Siva
Above: The Ross Sea coastline approaching Cape Adare in
the distance.
“We recognised that our work on Adélie penguins was ideally suited to a focused study on the biology of
climate change. The AISRF was an ideal program to help us to collaborate on this important issue.”
Professor Lambert describes the science behind
this project which looks to the Adélie penguin to
help clarify the mystery of the biological basis
of thermoregulation.
“When global temperatures change (up or
down) many animals do not biologically adapt
to that change, but simply move to where
things are warmer or cooler. With global
warming Adélie penguins are not able to move
to a cooler place since they already live in the
Above: At Cape Adare Leopard seal and Adélie
penguins bask together in the sun, while in the water
they are predator and prey.
coldest place on earth. So they
have no option
but to adapt.
“Ancient remains of these penguins that date
from a period when the temperature in Antarctica was ~10 degrees centigrade lower than it is now can
be used to compare genomes of modern and ancient individuals.”
It is this approach that the team led by Professor Lambert and Dr Swaminathan is undertaking. They
aim to identify the molecular changes that have taken place in the genome of Adélie penguins over time
as global warming has taken place.
With recent advances in DNA sequencing methodologies, the team will soon be able to recover larger
regions of the Adélie penguin genome and, in time, more precisely identify the biological basis of
thermoregulation. This will help determine how the penguins may respond to a changing climate.
For more information, please contact Professor David Lambert at [email protected] or Dr. Siva
Kumar Swaminathan at [email protected].
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and
Research and the Indian Government Department of Science and Technology through
the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.