'Pelvis has left the building'

Different genes cause loss of body parts in similar fish

		IMAGE: University of Utah biologist Mike Shapiro works at 3 a.m. to cross-breed stickleback fish in an impromptu laboratory he set up in a motel room in Canada's Northwest Territories, where... Click here for more information.

SALT LAKE CITY, June 4, 2009 – New research shows that when two species of stickleback fish evolved and lost their pelvises and body armor, the changes were caused by different genes in each species. That surprised researchers, who expected the same genes would control the same changes in both related fish.