THE SECRET OF THE STALK-EYED FLIES
BY YANG SOO AH
Do you know the theory of natural selection ? Natural selection , Darwin argued , is theorized that individuals in the same herd have various mutations of genes and some individual that are fully adapted to nature leave more offspring than others . This theory is recognized in the current world , and it is estimated that almost every living thing follows this theory . Among the animals that follow the theory of natural selection , there is the stalk-eyed fy . Why does this insect look like this ? The answer is genes .
The reason why this fy is different from the other fies is because of its eyestalk . There is an eye at the end of the eyestalk , and the brain is in the eyestalk itself . The odd thing is that the females usually choose to have offspring with the males that have longer eyestalks . But why did they evolve like this ? The answer is that some fies that have shorter eyestalks have abnormal genes compared with the fies that have longer eyestalks . In fact , males with short eyestalks do not have enough essential genes for breeding . Because of this , all of their offspring are females . That is , shorter eyestalks are the beginning of extinction for the stalk-eyed fy . Because of this problematic genetic feature , the selection of eyestalk length has become most crucial feature in reproduction for the stalk-eyed fies .
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