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New butterfly has 46 chromosomes, like a human, not the expected 68, like a close relative

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New butterfly, South-Russian blue/Vladimir Lukhtanov CC-BY 4.0

From ScienceDaily:

Finding a new species is a rare event in easy-to-see and well-studied organisms like butterflies, especially if they inhabit well-explored areas such as Europe. Researchers have now discovered the previously unknown South-Russian blue using an array of modern research techniques. Furthermore, the new species was found to possess 46 chromosomes, just like a human, whereas its closest relative has 68 chromosomes.

Discovered by Vladimir Lukhtanov, entomologist and evolutionary biologist at the Zoological Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Alexander Dantchenko, entomologist and chemist at the Moscow State University, the startling discovery was named South-Russian blue (Polyommatus australorossicus). It was found flying over the northern slopes of the Caucasus mountains in southern Russia. The study is published in the open access journal Comparative Cytogenetics.Paper. (public access) – Vladimir Lukhtanov, Alexander Dantchenko. A new butterfly species from south Russia revealed through chromosomal and molecular analysis of the Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damonides complex (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Comparative Cytogenetics, 2017; 11 (4): 769 DOI: 10.3897/CompCytogen.v11i4.20072 More.

Remember this when we are told that it is “anti-science” to doubt whatever the current bumf is around Darwinian evolution.

See also: Single gene flip, not Darwinism, explains butterfly mimicry but it’s not clear why the butterflies bother

and

Convergent evolution: Speciation in butterflies an unusually tough mess

Comments
It's very unlikely that this butterfly simply lost 11 chromosome pairs. Much more likely that there have been fusions combining ancestral chromosomes (or fragmentation in the species with more chromosomes). Not clear at all what this has to do with Darwinism, and why the fact the number is the same as in humans is of any interest.mullers_ratchet
December 16, 2017
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So, if a butterfly can still be a butterfly despite the loss of 22 entire chromosomes, what are those 22 chromosomes other than junk? This doesn't seem to bode well for those that object to use to the term "junk DNA"critical rationalist
December 16, 2017
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No problem. There was a "mutation." It eliminated 22 chromosomes. What more do you need to know? Next question . . .PaV
December 14, 2017
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