夏天是蟬鳴的季節(jié),，人們常常會(huì)聽到長(zhǎng)短不同的蟬鳴聲,，而最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，蟬發(fā)出的聲音不同會(huì)導(dǎo)致其分化成不同種類,。
英國(guó)加迪夫大學(xué)的研究人員和葡萄牙同行在新一期《歐洲昆蟲學(xué)雜志》上發(fā)表研究報(bào)告說,，蟬一生大部分時(shí)間都生活在地下,，只有夏天才到地面上繁衍后代。雄蟬利用其腹部器官摩擦發(fā)出聲音，吸引雌蟬前來交配,，而雌蟬也只對(duì)特定種類的聲音做出反應(yīng),。因此，發(fā)出不同聲音的蟬之間便形成了“天然的隔離”,。
研究人員說,，他們對(duì)10年來收集的大量地中海蟬的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行分析后發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管從外貌和生理結(jié)構(gòu)上看,，發(fā)出不同聲音的蟬之間并沒有明顯區(qū)別,，但這種長(zhǎng)期“天然的隔離”已經(jīng)引起了地中海蟬基因的變化，其程度可導(dǎo)致蟬內(nèi)部分化形成新的種類,。
研究人員認(rèn)為,，分析這種僅僅通過聲音變化便能逐漸演化出新種類的現(xiàn)象，可幫助人們更深入了解進(jìn)化論,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Eur. J. Entomol. 2009, 106(3): 393–403
Patterns of morphometric variation among species of the genus Cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in the Mediterranean area
SIMOES P.C. & QUARTAU J.A.
Selected populations of five closely related species of the genus Cicada L. were collected mainly on the Portuguese, Greek and Turkish mainland, as well as on several Aegean islands. Ten morphometric traits of external structures and seven of male genitalia were analysed and the results revealed patterns in morphometric variation for each species. Only C. lodosi was always completely discriminated by both character sets and C. barbara by the male genitalia analysis. For the remaining species there was great overlap between the clusters. Body length, of the external morphological structures, and measurements of the pygophore, of the male genitalia, were the best variables for identifying C. lodosi and C. barbara. The present morphometric analyses revealed that divergence in morphology is much less pronounced than the divergence in acoustic signals and DNA. Thus, the congruence between morphological divergence, namely at the level of the external structures, and both behavioural (acoustic) and genetic divergence is quite low.
