Using genetic analysis of modern specie , researchers haveconfirmedwhat has long been assumed to be the case – the early mammal that evolved when dinosaurs were roaming the land became nocturnal betimes on , most likely to avoid the reptiles that were snacking on them .
“ This method is like using the genome as a dodo platter , and with it we ’ve show when cistron involved in night vision look , ” says Liz Hadly , co - author of the study publish inScientific Reports , in astatement . “ It ’s a very powerful way of corroborating a fib that has been , up to now , only hypothesized . ”
Both mammal and modern reptiles ( cover snakes and lizards ) share a common root , before going their own freestanding ways around 300 million years ago . During the preceding menstruation , dinosaurs rose to become the prevalent creature , with the former mammals scurrying around their animal foot trying to make a living , while at the same time sample to avoid being gobbled up .
By looking at the skulls of early mammalian , it was suggested that these small critters had an ripe mother wit of smell and hearing . This , coupled with the fact that most mammal today are nocturnal , imply that these early ancestors of ours were most likely active during the night , no doubt essay to avoid the reptilian that were their main predators during the solar day .
Yet there has been no knockout evidence to evidence this . To try and change that , researchers turned to the genetics of innovative animals . They looked at the genes regard in night vision across a broad selection of reptiles and mammal alive today – including snake , lizards , alligators , mice , platypuses , and homo – to try and find when these cistron first appeared and when they became rectify .
They find that before the split of the two main groups , the earliest uncouth ancestor of both mammals and reptile did not have peculiarly good night sight , meaning it was in all likelihood active mainly during the day . But once the tree split , both groups quickly ask divergent routes . Mammals started to enhance their nighttime vision .
“ Early mammalian coexisted with early reptiles in the Age of the Dinosaurs and somehow escaped extinction,”explainsco - generator Yonghua Wu , who first identified the night vision factor in bird of Minerva . “ This research further defend the conjecture that diurnal reptile , such as lizard , snake and their relatives , competed with mammalian and may have led them to better adjust to dim light condition . ”
The researcher hope they can now use this technique to disclose other characteristic of our antecedent that are not preserved in the fossil record book .
