Mutation Parallel

Parallel mutations are mutations that lead to identical changes in phenotype in related species.

Such mutations occur independently in different evolutionary lines, but lead to similar phenotypic changes. This may be due to the fact that related species share common developmental limitations.

A striking example of parallel mutations are mutations that cause shortened limbs in various species of cave animals, such as cave fish, crayfish and salamanders. Shortening of the limbs occurs independently in these animals due to living in dark caves, where long limbs lose their functional significance.

Thus, parallel mutations demonstrate a similar effect of natural selection on independently occurring mutations in related species adapting to similar environmental conditions.

A parallel or linked mutation is a type of hereditary variability in which the genes responsible for the formation of traits are located nearby. This leads to the appearance of traits in individuals of similar genotypes and in the same places. For example, all forms of chicory differ in the length of the inflorescence down to the most microscopic details; all of them are equally well pollinated by insects. Within each group, traits are hereditarily determined by the genes of one locus, p located nearby on the same chromosome. Such analogs and duplicates that appear at different points on the chromosome are called alleles, which is why they are called alleles. Subsequently, these two alleles will fall into different generations.