Department of Biology & Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology & Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany.
Faculty of Life Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2019 Feb;3(2):161-169. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0775-0. Epub 2019 Jan 28.
Science requires replication. The development of many cloned or isogenic model organisms is a testament to this. But researchers are reluctant to use these traditional animal model systems for certain questions in evolution or ecology research, because of concerns over relevance or inbreeding. It has largely been overlooked that there are a substantial number of vertebrate species that reproduce clonally in nature. Here we highlight how use of these naturally evolved, phenotypically complex animals can push the boundaries of traditional experimental design and contribute to answering fundamental questions in the fields of ecology and evolution.
科学需要重复验证。许多克隆或同基因模型生物的发展就是明证。但是，由于担心相关性或近亲繁殖，研究人员不愿将这些传统的动物模型系统用于进化或生态学研究中的某些问题。人们在很大程度上忽视了这样一个事实，即自然界中有大量的脊椎动物以克隆的方式繁殖。在这里，我们强调了如何利用这些自然进化、表型复杂的动物来推动传统实验设计的边界，并有助于回答生态学和进化领域的基本问题。
