Coat color evolution--is there evidence for new mutations?

[Mercer (John Mercer)]

@Mercer

as I already pointed out above that you misrepresented the data shown in Fig. 1A.

There were zero black mice in the Avra Valley and Portal locales which were the areas I was referring to. I didn’t misrepresent the figure at all.

Yes, you did:

@T_aquaticus

As you move away from the lava flows you don’t find the dominant black allele, even though there is free interbreeding between the brown and black populations. This demonstrates strong negative selection against the black allele outside of the basalt islands.

That was not true, and there’s no reference to Avra Valley and Portal.

Even if you weren’t misrepresenting the data and the frequency had been 0 of a massive sample of 43 mice, why would that suggest that the mutations were new ones?

You really have trouble admitting an error or unwarranted exaggeration, don’t you?

@T_aquaticus

The allele can’t survive in the light colored desert environments, as shown by the lack of black mice at the Avra Valley and Portal locales.

So what? Are they reproductively isolated?

@T_aquaticus

Therefore, the recent positive selection evidences a recent emergence of the allele.

Stop with the “emergence” waffling. You claimed that the mutation is new. There’s no evidence for that, you realize it, but rather than coming clean, you’re handwaving and obfuscating.

@T_aquaticus

I never made any such claim. I said that the black allele is dominant, meaning the black allele under consideration in the wild population that is under consideration.

There were several wild populations considered in this paper. They don’t know what loci or alleles are involved in the others. Hence my question, which you haven’t answered.

@Mercer

How does that even suggest, much less demonstrate, that the mutation is new?

@T_aquaticus

Such strong negative selection would have removed the allele from the population.

Really? Is the frequency of the allele zero? Is the sample large enough to conclude that?

@T_aquaticus

It would have nearly zero chance of surviving long term in the population.

And how did you determine that the population is completely reproductively isolated from populations with the black allele? Why did they find a black mouse at Pincate if the negative selection is so strong?

@T_aquaticus

Also from the paper:

I don’t disagree with the paper. The evolution was very rapid. There’s just no evidence to support your claim that the mutations are new, no matter how much you wave your hands. I already explained this and you didn’t respond. How come?

@Mercer

Where will I find your assertion that the mutation is new in the paper? I don’t see any problems with the paper; only with your claim that the mutation is new .