Fishing tribe evolved for deep water diving

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5635013/Remarkable-evolution-Indonesian-fish-people-hold-breath-13-minutes.html  Quoting:

'Super human' evolution of 'Indonesian fish people' revealed: Tribe can dive 230ft and hold their breath for 13 minutes underwater after developing unusually large spleens

* Genetic change was found in the Bajau tribe who hold their breath for 13 minutes
* It is the first known example of a human adaptation to deep diving
* For more than 1,000 years, the Bajau have wandered the seas of southern Asia
* Now settled, they are still famous for their extraordinary breath-holding ability

A population of Indonesian 'fish people' have evolved spleens are 50 per cent larger than normal people, enabling them to free dive to depths of more than 200 feet (61 metres). The genetic change discovered in the Bajau tribe - who can hold their breath for 13 minutes - is the first known example of a human adaptation to deep diving, researchers found. For more than 1,000 years, the Bajau - known as 'Sea Nomads' - have wandered the seas of southern Asia in house boats, catching fish by free diving with spears. Now settled around the islands of Indonesia, they are famous for their extraordinary breath-holding ability . . .

The new study found that the spleens of the Bajau people are 50 per cent larger than those of their land-dwelling neighbours, the Saluan.

Lead scientist Melissa Ilardo, from Cambridge University, who embarked on the research as a PhD candidate, said: 'There's not a lot of information out there about human spleens in terms of physiology and genetics, but we know that deep diving seals, like the Weddell seal, have disproportionately large spleens. 'I thought that if selection acted on the seals to give them larger spleens, it could potentially do the same in humans.'

Because the Bajau do not dive competitively it is uncertain precisely how long they can remain underwater. One of the tribe told Ms Ilardo that he had once dived for 13 minutes.



Ms Ilardo spent several months in Jaya Bakti, Indonesia, taking genetic samples and conducting ultrasound scans of people from the Bajau and Saluan tribes. The evidence showed that Bajau spleens were permanently enlarged, and did not get bigger simply as a response to diving. 'Humans are pretty plastic beings', she said. 'We can adapt to a number of different extreme environments just through our lifestyle changes or our behavioural changes, so it wasn't necessarily likely that we would find an actual genetic adaptation to diving'.

DNA analysis showed that the Bajau have a gene called PDE10A that is lacking in the Saluan. The gene is thought to alter spleen size by adjusting thyroid hormone levels.

X-MEN in reality.

Ha-ha!