By: Haley Lussier, Madison Navega, and Madison Warren (Stonehill College, BIO323: Evolution, Spring 2025)
Did you know humans are most closely related to chimpanzees? Chimpanzees are remarkably diverse in their adaptation to different habitats, just like we are. Whether you are from Australia or the United States, your population can adapt to the habitat you are in. One cannot deny that change affects habitats, species, and the planet as a whole. Conservation biology has become a vital field for understanding and preserving biodiversity. One key concept in this field is local genetic adaptation, which ensures a species is well-suited to its environment and retains the potential to adapt over time. The recent Science article “Local genetic adaptation to habitat in wild chimpanzees,” by Dr. Harrison Ostridge and 73 coauthors, investigates the differences in the genetic makeup of wild chimpanzee populations to look for evidence that these differences provide an advantage in different environments. Dr. Ostridge completed this research as part of his Ph.D. dissertation at University College London, where he focused on population genomics and its relationship to disease adaptation.