Galapagos hawks hand down lice like family heirlooms

Date:

August 6, 2014

Source:

University of Arizona

Summary:

Studying Galápagos hawks and their lice, biologists provide some of the first field evidence for co-divergence between parasites and hosts as a major driver of biodiversity. As the birds diversify into distinct populations on each island, their parasites diversify with them. The findings help explain the rapid rate of parasite evolution.

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