DNA Uncovers One of the World’s Rarest Birds
Stephen A. MurphyNov. 23rd, 2010
Researchers at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy have discovered the difference between Eastern and Western Parrots by testing the Parrot’s DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Scientists from this institution have done a lot of DNA Analysis including both eastern and western ground parrots. By analyzing the samples from the museum collections that were more than 160 years old, they have found out that there are high differences among them, so those western ground parrots could be treated as new species Pezoporus Flaviventris. As a result, scientists figured out that since there are two different types of parrots, one of them is an endangered species- the western ground parrot. This bird is one of the most infrequent parrots in the world, and since there is only little amounts of western parrots left in the world (less than 110 birds is living in the world), they should be protected, since their number has rapidly decreased in the last 20 years (for ex. by extinction by different predators such as cats). This discovery was extremely important, because now we can discover newer species by the new technology we use. I learned that even the smallest change in an animal’s genetic code could make it a totally different species. To me, this article was very interesting specifically because I got to hear the good news about saving these animals. But, I’m wondering what would happen if these differences were observed after losing these rare 110 birds, and how many of the world’s biodiversity is already lost.
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