Today I Learned (TIL)

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TIL: There is a breed of goat that is half black and half white -- The Valais Blackneck goat (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10765623

(Full disclosure, I learned this yesterday.)

Found in this video, at the 1min mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHN2eNigz3o

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just because a gene has become popular in a population doesn't necessarily mean it provides an evolutionary advantage. It can also be genetic hitchhiking, where a non-advantageous gene tags along with an advantageous one because they're located close together. Or even just genetic drift, where a gene becomes popular due to random chance.

There could be an advantage for this trait, but there doesn't need to be.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

Also these are domestic goats, so the advantage could literally be "humans thought it was neat".