New Zealand stoats provide an ark for genetic diversity

Monday, April 27, 2015 - 10:30 in Paleontology & Archaeology

British stoats suffered a dramatic loss in genetic diversity in the 20th century but extinct British genes were preserved in the stoat population of New Zealand, a new study has found. The research reveals that stoats, which were introduced to New Zealand, have greater genetic diversity there, than in their native Britain. The results are unusual because introducing a species to a new area is usually associated with a loss in its genetic diversity.

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