Study
Genome-wide signatures of convergent evolution in echolocating mammals
Parker, Joe; Tsagkogeorga, Georgia; Cotton, James A.; Liu, Yuan; Provero, Paolo; Stupka, Elia; Rossiter, Stephen J.
Nature, 2013
Orthologous coding genes were compared across mammal genomes, and sites where echolocating bats and echolocating cetaceans independently arrived at the same amino acid were counted and tested against non-echolocating relatives.
- Studied in
- Chiroptera, Cetacea
- Sample size
- thousands of orthologous genes compared across mammal genomes
Convergent amino-acid substitutions between echolocating bats and cetaceans were reported at many loci across the genome, including but not limited to genes with known hearing functions.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Molecular convergence associated with echolocation is widespread across the genome rather than confined to a few hearing genes.
How NatureHQ reads it
Recorded here together with the objection it drew, because the pair is more instructive than either part. The finding was striking and the analysis was challenged on a specific and answerable point: some convergent substitution happens by chance, so the question is not whether convergence exists but whether there is more of it than expected. NatureHQ does not adjudicate between them.
- The number of convergent sites expected under a null model was contested by subsequent analysis.
- Genome comparisons of this kind are sensitive to alignment quality and to the substitution model assumed.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Nature PortfolioPublished in a Nature Portfolio journal.
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.