Perspective: Models of Speciation: What Have We Learned in 40 Years?

Gavrilets, Sergey

doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2003.tb00233.x

Cited by 486 publications

(453 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…These controversies have attracted the attention of many theoreticians, and by now the great majority of theoretical work on speciation concerns speciation in the presence of gene flow between diverging populations driven by ecological selection (Gavrilets 2004;Kirkpatrick and Ravigné 2002). Most of this work is represented by numerical studies, but there now exist a number of simple analytical models of sympatric speciation (Gavrilets 2003b(Gavrilets , 2004(Gavrilets , 2006Gavrilets and Waxman 2002). The theory of sympatric speciation is arguably the most developed part of theoretical speciation research.…”

Section: Modern Speciation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

Gavrilets¹

2010

Evolution—the Extended Synthesis

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The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s remains the paradigm of evolutionary biology (Futuyma 1998;Gould 2002;Pigliucci 2007;Ridley 1993). The progress in understanding the process of evolution made during that period had been a direct result of the development of theoretical population genetics by Fisher, Wright, and Haldane, who built a series of mathematical models, approaches, and techniques showing how natural selection, mutation, drift, migration, and other evolutionary factors are expected to shape the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of biological populations. These theoretical advances provided "a great impetus to experimental work on the genetics of populations" (Sheppard 1954) and a "guiding light for rigorous quantitative experimentation and observation" (Dobzhansky 1955), and had many other far-reaching implications.According to Provine (1978), the work of Fisher, Wright, and Haldane had significant influence on evolutionary thinking in at least four ways. First, their models showed that the processes of selection, mutation, drift, and migration were largely sufficient to account for microevolution. Second, they showed that some directions explored by biologists were not fruitful. Third, the models complemented and lent greater significance to particular results of field and laboratory research. Fourth, they stimulated and provided framework for later empirical research. Since the time of the Modern Synthesis, evolutionary biology has arguably remained one of the most mathematized branches of the life sciences, in which mathematical models and methods continuously guide empirical research, provide tools for testing hypotheses, explain complex interactions between multiple evolutionary factors, train biological intuition, identify crucial parameters and factors, evaluate relevant temporal and spatial scales, and point to the gaps in biological knowledge, as well as provide simple and intuitive tools and metaphors for thinking about complex phenomena. In this chapter, I discuss two particular areas of theoretical evolutionary biology that have experienced significant progress since the late 1980s: a theory of fitness landscapes and a theory of speciation. I also outline two particular directions for theoretical studies on the origins of biodiversity which are especially important, in my opinion, for unification of different branches of the life sciences. One is the development of a theory of large-scale evolutionary diversification and adaptive radiation. The other is a quantitative theory of the origins of our own species. Classical Fitness LandscapesThe theoretical notion of fitness landscapes (also known as "adaptive landscapes," "adaptive topographies," and "surfaces of selective value"), which emerged at the onset of the Modern Synthesis, has become a standard tool both for formal mathematical modeling and for the intuitive metaphorical visualizing of biological evolution, adaptation, and speciation. This notion was first introduced by Sewall Wright in a classic paper deliv...

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Section: Modern Speciation Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

Gavrilets¹

2010

Evolution—the Extended Synthesis

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“…Theoretical models have shown that, when it is associated with disruptive selection, assortative mating by single traits or multiple ecologically related traits facilitates sympatric speciation (Bolnick & Fitzpatrick, 2007; Dieckmann & Doebeli, 1999; Gavrilets, 2003) and local adaptation (Jiang et al., 2013). In a Tilapia species complex in the early stages of speciation, there was strong assortative mating by diet and color, which may promote species differentiation (Martin, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assortative mating by colored ornaments in blue tits: space and time matter

Fargevieille

Grégoire

Charmantier

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Assortative mating is a potential outcome of sexual selection, and estimating its level is important to better understand local adaptation and underlying trait evolution. However, assortative mating studies frequently base their conclusions on small numbers of individuals sampled over short periods of time and limited spatial scales even though spatiotemporal variation is common. Here, we characterized assortative mating patterns over 10 years in four populations of the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), a passerine bird. We focused on two plumage ornaments—the blue crown and the yellow breast patch. Based on data for 1,657 pairs of birds, we found large interannual variation: assortative mating varied from positive to negative. To determine whether there was nonetheless a general trend in the data, we ran a within‐study meta‐analysis. It revealed that assortative mating was moderately positive for both ornaments. It also showed that mating patterns differed among populations and especially between two neighboring populations that displayed phenotypic divergence. Our results therefore underscore that long‐term studies are needed to draw broad conclusions about mating patterns in natural populations. They also call for studying the potential role of assortative mating in local adaptation and evolution of ornaments in both sexes.

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“…Natural populations are rarely panmictic, and crucial consequences of spatial subdivision are (1) random genetic drift including historical factors, (2) uniform selection acting on separate subpopulations experiencing similar selection regimes, and (3) divergent selection acting on separate subpopulations living in different ecological environments. Each of these consequences may result in geographic variation and eventually reproductive isolation, but their relative importance in speciation is still unclear and probably case dependent (Coyne & Orr, 2004; Dieckmann, Doebeli, Metz, & Tautz, 2004; Gavrilet, 2003; Schluter, 2000, 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snails in the desert: Species diversification of Theba (Gastropoda: Helicidae) along the Atlantic coast of NW Africa

Greve

Haase

Hutterer

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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The spatial subdivision of species often plays a pivotal role in speciation. Across their entire range, species are rarely panmictic and crucial consequences of spatial subdivision are (1) random genetic drift including historical factors, (2) uniform selection, and (3) divergent selection. Each of these consequences may result in geographic variation and eventually reproductive isolation, but their relative importance in speciation is still unclear. In this study, we used a combination of genetic, morphological, and climatic data to obtain a comprehensive picture of differentiation among three closely related, parapatrically distributed taxa of the land snail genus Theba occurring along the Atlantic coasts of South Morocco and Western Sahara. We conducted Mantel and partial Mantel tests to relate phenotypic and genotypic variation of these species to geography and/or climate. As null hypothesis for an evolutionary scenario, we assumed nonadaptive speciation and expected a pattern of isolation by distance among taxa. Rejection of the null hypothesis would indicate isolation by environment due to adaptation. Generally, genetic drift plays an important role but is rarely considered as sole driver of speciation. It is the combination of drift and selection that predominantly drives speciation. This study, however, provides a potential example, in which nonadaptive speciation, that is, genetic drift, is apparently the main driver of shaping the diversity of Theba in NW Africa. Restriction of gene flow between populations caused by geographic isolation probably has played an important role. Climate oscillations during the Plio‐ and Pleistocene may have led to repeated ecological changes in NW Africa and disruptions of habitats promoting differentiation by geographic isolation. The inferred evolutionary scenario, however, did not fully explain the incongruence between the AFLP‐ and mtDNA‐tree topologies. This incongruence might indicate past hybridization among the studied Theba forms.

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Perspective: Models of Speciation: What Have We Learned in 40 Years?

Cited by 486 publications

References 86 publications

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

Assortative mating by colored ornaments in blue tits: space and time matter

Snails in the desert: Species diversification of Theba (Gastropoda: Helicidae) along the Atlantic coast of NW Africa

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