Researchers to study if parasites creating new Australian lizard species

Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-20 14:51:05|Editor: huaxia

CANBERRA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers will lead an international study into whether parasites are creating new subspecies of lizards.

The study, led by a team by Flinders University, will look into whether ticks and fleas that live on sleepy lizards - otherwise known as shinglebacks - in South Australia (SA) are causing host divergence, the process where one species becomes two.

Lead researcher Mike Gardner said that parasites can alter their hosts' immune gene, which is especially important in sleepy lizards because it is how they recognize each other.

The site of the study, north of Adelaide, was chosen because it is where shinglebacks carrying different parasites interact most often

"Parasites represent a major selective force in host evolution," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"If the parasites' ability to cause differences in the lizards' genes is really strong, then maybe lizards with different parasites will stop recognising others as being the same species."

According to Gardner subspecies of sleepy lizards most commonly occur as a result of a physical barrier dividing one population into two.

The study will investigate whether parasites can cause similar change without such a barrier.

"It all come back to the parasites evolving ways to attack their hosts and the lizards evolving ways to defend against those parasites," he said.

The team will also investigate if climate change is affecting how parasites choose their hosts.

"If parasites are going to change their ranges according to the changing climate, they're going to come into contact with different hosts than they would normally," Gardner said.

"So, that may affect how the species reacts to the parasites; it may affect how those interactions occur."

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