BARCELONA, Spain, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Spanish researchers have found that climate change appears to be causing genetic changes in a species of fruit fly.
The University of Barcelona study, which appears in the Aug. 31 issue of the online journal Science Express, says a fruit fly species called Drosophila subobscura -- which originated in Europe and was introduced to North and South America about 25 years ago -- experienced chromosome inversions over a period of time.
The scientists examined samples of the flies taken from Europe recently and several decades ago, as well as in South America in 1981 and 1999 and North America in 1985 and 2002.
Raymond Huey -- a University of Washington biology professor who co-authored a paper describing the findings -- said different chromosome inversions were recorded in all three locations, but all the changes appeared to be in defense against the warmer temperatures that each location has displayed since the original samples were taken.
"In the long term, this suggests that climate warming is already having genetic effects, at least on these organisms," Huey said. "The good news is that these flies may be able to adapt, at least to some extent, to a warming climate. However, organisms with longer intervals between new generations, humans or sequoia trees for example, probably can't adapt nearly as readily."
