Post 4 in response to froggy
Of course the two new species when a ring species splits will still be salamanders (or gulls, or greenish warblers, etc.) Even among species that have been separate they are still as close morphologically as different breeds of the same species. (A lioness actually looks more like a cougar than a Great Dane looks like a chihuahua). And almost as close genetically. Even a Florida panther and a clouded leopard, about as far apart as you can get genetically among the Great Cats, have similar DNA, just a little more different enough than necessary to prevent interbreeding. Evolution would make no sense if when a species split, one group became elephants and the other group became giraffes.
There was a species of animal called a lagomorph. It had long ears, strong hind legs and ate similarly to a rodent. As it spread out, there were all kinds of adaptations made. Eventually the adaptations produced different breeds, and like with the ring species, it split into different species, rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits. And over time those species split again, so that there are different species of rabbits, different species of hare, and different species of jackrabbit. But they are all still lagomorphs. They all still look and act like the original lagomorph, only different. But I left out a split, the very first split. The first split was into leporids and ochotonids. Rabbits, hares and jackrabbits are all leporids. So what happened to the ochotonids? Their ears became shorter and rounder. Their hind limbs, while still very strong are not so overpowering of the front limbs that hopping is not their main means of locomotion. We call them pikas, and a child is more likely to identify a live pika with a cartoon mouse than a cartoon rabbit, which is why the cartoon pika pocket monster has been given inaccurate rabbit ears.
Your son and you do not have the same DNA, but almost all of it is recognized human DNA, and at least half of his DNA is identical to half of yours (the half he inherited from you). Because so much is identical, we can tell that he is closely related, most likely a parent, a child, or a full sibling. If 1/4 or more, but significantly less than 1/2 were identical, you'd be a little more distantly related, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle who is full sibling to the parent, a half sibling, a nephew or niece, ofspring of a full sibling, or a grandchild, etc. It gets complicated with consanguinous ancestors (for example grand parents who were second or third cousins), but that is how DNA is used to determine how closely people are related.
It is used in exactly the same way to determine if species are genetically as close as they seen morphologically. A rabbit looks like a hare. The DNA shows that they are genetically similar.
Of course the two new species when a ring species splits will still be salamanders (or gulls, or greenish warblers, etc.) Even among species that have been separate they are still as close morphologically as different breeds of the same species. (A lioness actually looks more like a cougar than a Great Dane looks like a chihuahua). And almost as close genetically. Even a Florida panther and a clouded leopard, about as far apart as you can get genetically among the Great Cats, have similar DNA, just a little more different enough than necessary to prevent interbreeding. Evolution would make no sense if when a species split, one group became elephants and the other group became giraffes.
There was a species of animal called a lagomorph. It had long ears, strong hind legs and ate similarly to a rodent. As it spread out, there were all kinds of adaptations made. Eventually the adaptations produced different breeds, and like with the ring species, it split into different species, rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits. And over time those species split again, so that there are different species of rabbits, different species of hare, and different species of jackrabbit. But they are all still lagomorphs. They all still look and act like the original lagomorph, only different. But I left out a split, the very first split. The first split was into leporids and ochotonids. Rabbits, hares and jackrabbits are all leporids. So what happened to the ochotonids? Their ears became shorter and rounder. Their hind limbs, while still very strong are not so overpowering of the front limbs that hopping is not their main means of locomotion. We call them pikas, and a child is more likely to identify a live pika with a cartoon mouse than a cartoon rabbit, which is why the cartoon pika pocket monster has been given inaccurate rabbit ears.
Your son and you do not have the same DNA, but almost all of it is recognized human DNA, and at least half of his DNA is identical to half of yours (the half he inherited from you). Because so much is identical, we can tell that he is closely related, most likely a parent, a child, or a full sibling. If 1/4 or more, but significantly less than 1/2 were identical, you'd be a little more distantly related, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle who is full sibling to the parent, a half sibling, a nephew or niece, ofspring of a full sibling, or a grandchild, etc. It gets complicated with consanguinous ancestors (for example grand parents who were second or third cousins), but that is how DNA is used to determine how closely people are related.
It is used in exactly the same way to determine if species are genetically as close as they seen morphologically. A rabbit looks like a hare. The DNA shows that they are genetically similar.
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