The scientists set out to recover the evolutionary tree of pubic lice, just as they had done with head lice. They analyzed DNA from human head lice, human pubic lice, as well as other species from the same genera that live on chimpanzees and gorillas. They also analyzed DNA from lice that live on monkeys and on rodents so that they could get a better sense of how pubic lice had evolved from a common ancestor with other species. The scientists not only drew branches for each species, but also estimated when those branches split over the course of history. Their conclusion, which they published today in BMC Biology, is just as striking as their earlier one about head lice. But it is hardly the same. We did not get pubic lice from other hominids. We got them from the ancestors of gorillas.
I Hope that Gorilla was Worth It.
Over at The Loom, Carl Zimmer discusses some interesting research on the origin of crabs, not the tasty kind but the ichy-bitey kind.
Question of the Day: How Do You Get Crabs From A Gorilla?
8 Comments
Sir_Toejam · 7 March 2007
uh, could someone remove the spam, please.
Gary Hurd · 8 March 2007
That is funny, but I suspect that it will not hold/grasp/bite for very long.
Dizzy · 8 March 2007
My educated, objective response to this article is: Ewwwww.
Seriously, though. Can you imagine being one of those researchers at a bar, being asked what you do, and having to answer, "I'm working on a research project studying crabs?"
Nice to hear that it's not *necessarily* evidence of a man-beast love affair, though. So my hypothesis that that practice started in Kansas is not out the window...
Zarquon · 8 March 2007
Gryptype-Thynne: Have a gorilla?
Seagoon: No thanks, I'm trying to give them up.
Tracy P. Hamilton · 8 March 2007
Clearly there is an ID explanation. The designer designed designer crabs for each of the great apes. Let up appreciate such attention to detail.
Henry J · 8 March 2007
The trackback misspelled "pubic".
Oh, and PT's spellchecker doesn't recognize "trackback". Or "PT's", for that matter.
Dizzy · 8 March 2007
Henry J · 8 March 2007
Oh. Well, in that case disregard my comment. :)