A popular myth claims that the London Underground hosts a unique species of mosquito, supposedly evolving to live in its tunnels during WWII. However, a recent study suggests that the Culex pipiens form molestus, or Underground Mosquito, actually originated in the Middle East thousands of years ago. The research involved DNA testing of historical samples, revealing its long history rather than rapid adaptation. The study emphasizes how species rapidly adapt to urban environments, raising awareness of evolutionary changes in modern contexts.
The research was carried out as part of a study into how animals, and bugs, adapt to manmade urban landscapes, and the authors write that the speed of the suggested evolution was "striking and sets a new bar for the number and complexity of changes we might expect to occur in modern cities over short timescales."
To test the theory that the mosquito adapted to the tube, the researchers took samples of mosquitos collected during WWII and later, and carried out DNA tests on them.
Rather than evolving to live in the London Underground, the Culex pipiens form molestus probably originated in the Middle East thousands of years ago.
The mosquito took a ride on humanity's expansion, but when mankind started digging down, the mosquito took to the subteranean spaces quite happily.
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