Newly Discovered Species of Monkey Flower Reveals Evolution in Real Time

A recently-discovered species of flower may shed new light on evolution. The new Scottish flower, a monkey flower, actually shows how evolution occurs in real time.

"Usually a species forms once in a particular location then spreads to other regions," said Mario Vallejo-Marin, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In this case, the opposite has occurred as the same species has evolved multiple times in different places. It shows that when the conditions are right, the origin of species is a repeatable phenomenon."

In this case, the flower has subtle differences between different populations. This, in turn, is allowing researchers to track the evolution of the named Mimulus peregrinus.

"It is impossible to say whether Mimulus peregrinus evolved first in the south or in the north of Scotland, but our discovery of a very young species of this kind has allowed us to study evolution as it happens," said Vallejo-Marin. "We only know of a handful of other plant species as young as Mimulus peregrinus and so in this respect it is like looking at the big bang in the first milliseconds of its occurrence."

In fact, instead of branching out as it goes, the new flower is an example of how some branches of evolution can come together again and spawn new species that are in part the combination of their ancestors. This reveals a bit more about the process of evolution and shows how it can occur in ways that are unexpected.

The findings are published in the journal Evolution.

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