Bats and Dolphins Independently Evolved Similar Genes for Echolocation

Bats and dolphins, though very different, both use echolocation to navigate their environment and search for food. They independently evolved this capacity. Amazingly, this convergence is seen in their genes, some of which became more similar over time and produced a similar set of traits to support echolocation. This convergence of genes involved in echolocation is seen both within groups of echolating bats (but not non-echolocating bats) and, more intriguingly, between echolocating bats and the bottlenose dolphin.

These findings are reported in a study in Nature  by Parker et al. These researchers performed a genome-wide sequence analysis for 22 mammals that independently evolved echolocation. As the authors state, "[t]his study represents the first systematic attempt to provide a framework for the genomic analysis of sequence convergence associated with independently shared phenotypes."

The investigators discovered a DNA sequence convergence in 200 regions of the genomes of these mammals. They saw a strong convergence between bats and the bottlenose dolphin in genes linked to hearing or deafness. They also observed unexpected convergence in genes linked to vision. Most of the convergent genetic loci have no known role in echolocation; many of these are poorly characterized in function, so they may play roles in echolocation. Finally, some of the genes of known function are unlikely to play roles in echolocation but may be associated with characteristics that correlate with echolocation in some way.

Very cool! Below is an excerpt from a Nature News write-up summarizing the original article.

--

NATURE | NEWS

Convergent evolution seen in hundreds of genes

Bats and dolphins may have developed echolocation via similar mutations.

• Erika Check Hayden

04 September 2013

Article tools

Rights & Permissions

Expand

Bottlenose dolphins can detect prey with a sonar-like trick similar to that used by bats — and the similarity extends to the genetic underpinnings of this ability.

DOUG PERRINE/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

A new analysis suggests that many genes evolved in parallel in bats and dolphins as each developed the remarkable ability to echolocate.

Different organisms often independently evolve similar observable traits such as anatomical or functional features, but the genetic changes underpinning such 'convergent evolution' are usually different. The new study, published today in Nature¹, hints that evolution may be finding the same genetic solutions to a problem more often than previously thought.

Nature News Article

Original Research Article in Nature