Laura van Holstein, a PhD student in Biological Anthropology at St John's College, University of Cambridge, and lead author of the research published today (March 18) in Proceedings of the Royal Society, discovered mammal subspecies play a more important role in evolution than previously thought.
Her research could now be used to predict which species conservationists should focus on protecting to stop them becoming endangered or extinct.
A species is a group of animals that can interbreed freely amongst themselves. Some species contain subspecies -- populations within a species that differ from each other by having different physical traits and their own breeding ranges. Northern giraffes have three subspecies that usually live in different locations to each other and red foxes have the most subspecies -- 45 known varieties -- spread all over the world. Humans have no subspecies.
An ancient cat was found almost perfectly preserved in Siberia's permafrost.
Researchers found the mummy of a...
A Nasa astronaut who just returned from the International Space Station has been hospitalized for an...
US government employees have been injured by UFOs and the US government has conducted a secret...
A spacecraft that will study one of Jupiter’s moons launched Monday on a journey of more...
