Secret Of Scottish Sheep Evolution Discovered ScienceDaily (Jan. 20, 2008) — Researchers from the University of Sheffield, as part of an international team, have discovered the secret of why dark sheep on a remote Scottish Island are mysteriously declining, seemingly contradicting Darwin's evolutionary theory. Dr Jacob Gratten and Dr Jon Slate, from the University's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, led the team, which found that the gene responsible for dark coat colour is linked to other genes that reduce an animal's fitness. The researchers looked at coat colour in a feral population of Soay sheep on Hirta in the...