Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
population structure, cuttlefish Sepia officinalis, North Atlantic-Mediterranean Region
College
Life Sciences
Department
Biology
Abstract
An understanding of the relatedness of a population of organisms, or their phylogeny, combined with knowledge of that population’s geographical distribution, can illuminate which geographic forces and events may have played a role in forming the “family tree” of that organism. Therefore past speciation events and the incipient stages of speciation can be discerned when phylogenetic and geographic information is merged. This process, broadly known as the practice of phylogeography or biogeography, is important because it permits researchers to visualize the evolutionary interplay between environment and organism. Additionally, an understanding of an organism’s population structure, or family tree, enables scientists and conservation management professionals to make predictions about which geographic locations need protection, or which can withstand further exploitation, while still preserving lineages of a given organism.
Recommended Citation
Nolte, Mark Joseph; Crandall, Dr. Keith; and Pérez-Losada, Marcos
(2013)
"Population Structure of the Cuttlefish Sepia Officinalis from the North Atlantic-Mediterranean Region,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 1037.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1037