London Underground mutant mosquitoes have surprisingly ancient origins

Shape of mosquitoes Related to London underground Evolved in human environments when the underground railways were created on the 19th^th century.

Culex Pipiens f. aggravating It is found in cities around the world, but it was very popular with underground mosquitoes in London after World War II, when it was a London discharge protected by the tube station during the Blitz.

Has a strong connection with a bird form of the same known species Culex Pipiens f. Pipiens, And biologists believed that the Molestus form evolved in urban environments for the last centuries.

To learn more about his origin, Lindy McBride Princeton University and his colleagues studied 790 mosquitoes from 44 countries around the world, including molestus and pipios, as well as some related species.

The results suggest that than to create in Tube tunnels in London, Molestus mosquitoes probably said you had in the Middle East a year ago. There are three main evidence for this.

First of all, the molestus is genetically closer to the Mediterranean Basin from Pipiens populations than to populations in the country. These mosquitoes of the Mediterranean peips are close cousins, says McBride proposing that it was created from the other.

Molestus mosquitoes in the eastern Mediterranean region are more genetic than molestuses in Underground in northern Europe. “This suggests that they have been present in the eastern Mediterranean for a longer period of time,” says McBride.

In the end, the form of peips is not in the Middle East. This is much easier to imagine how mosquito’s ancestors were able to colonize the region and evolve humans in isolating, without biting with bird holes made by birds, McBride said.

Based on the analysis of the genetic mutations of the group, it is almost certain that mosquitoes are much more ancient than thought before, McBride says. “Our estimation tells us that it must be at least 1000 years ago 1000 and 10,000 years ago (evolved). This is well with the development of agriculture in the Middle East.”

“Instead of evolving in the underground spaces of the city, Molestus has already prepared the city’s life thanks to the elderly age,” he noted. “When established in cities, it is likely that he has evolved more.”

The city’s surroundings can cause new hybrids between bird bite and human bite forms, which would have public health implications, says McBride. “Although the hybridization is rare, these mosquitoes can show a means of intermediate behavior and may have a higher ability to convey West Nile (Virus) from birds to humans.”