A mosquito form found in urban meter systems evolved in the Middle East thousands of years ago to live in human environments long before underground railways emerged in the nineteenth century.
O Culex pipiens f. annoying is in cities around the world, but has become widely known as the London Mosquito.
The biologists thought that the form annoying He had evolved in urban environments in recent centuries, but were wrong.
A study in early February revealed that instead of emerging in the tunnels of the London Metro, the mosquito annoying evolved in the Middle East thousands of years ago.
And there are three key points that support this theory.
First, the form annoying and genetically closer of the populations of Culex pipiens f. pipiens of the Mediterranean basin than populations of pipiens from northern Europe.
In addition, mosquitoes annoying of the eastern region of the Mediterranean are genetically more variable than annoying of the underground habitats of northern Europe. “This suggests that were in the East Mediterranean during a significant longer period of time, ”he explained Lindy McBrideone of the study researchers, from the University of Princeton, to.
Finally, the form pipiens does not exist in the Middle East.
That is, the great conclusion of the new study (which makes it “almost certain”) is that mosquitoes annoying They are much older than thought.
“Our calculations tell us that they evolved 2000 to 10,000 years ago. This coincides perfectly with the Development of Agriculture in the Middle East“, These McBride.
“Instead of evolving from scratch in underground urban spaces, the molestus was already prepared for life in the city thanks to much older adaptations,” he says.
That is, the mosquitoes of the London Metro, after all, are not from the London Metro.
