RE: https://mastodon.green/@plazi_species/115904831661478242

How can allopatric #speciation lead to the #radiation of #newspecies, and how can #research succeed in reconstructing such mechanisms? #Cryptic #complexes such as the #Hemiphyllodactylus #harterti-complex (#Gekkonidae) can be revealing.

Z. Hong et al. (2026) #phylogenetically identified two new species by using the #mitochondrialgene #ND2. The #ancestral #population of the complex is thought to have diverged in the Middle #Oligocene and radiated from there throughout #Malaysia.

© #StefanFWirth

I've been a student of speciation and species concepts for 40 years, so I'm surprised that I cannot recall or find a term that refers specifically to two or more species between which limited gene flow occurs--species that hybridize while remaining distinct. Does it exist?
#evolution #speciation

every individuaL belongs to the same specieS of their parentS

Isn’t it trivial?
What’s wrong with that sentence, if we take it as a definition of species membership?

What’s wrong is that it’s revolutionary.
It contradicts the current definition of species, or at least what remains of it after all the attempts to keep it usable despite hybrids such as turtles with complex patterns of fertility.
#biology

#taxonomy

#genetics

#speciation

#science
#scienceMastodon

Key article from a year ago with Meneganzin and Stringer on #speciation

https://academic.oup.com/evolinnean/article/3/1/kzae033/7900502?login=false

New meta-analysis out on the role of sexual selection in speciation!

Across the Animal kingdom, we found that stronger sexual selection is significantly (though weakly) associated with greater species richness in comparative studies — suggesting a modest role for sexual selection in speciation.

A great collaboration with Tim Janicke, Jeanne Tonnabel, Tamra Mendelson & Mike Ritchie.

https://doi.org/10.1093/evlett/qraf038

#Evolution #Speciation #SexualSelection #MetaAnalysis

Even seemingly small ecological differences can spark the evolution of new species: a study from #unibern shows that in sticklebacks, the mere presence of another fish species is enough to produce different forms — and thus, new species. https://mediarelations.unibe.ch/media_releases/2025/media_releases_2025/creation_of_new_species/index_eng.html
@snf_ch
#Evolution #Biodiversity #Speciation

Fiji’s ants might be the canary in the coal mine for the insect apocalypse https://arstechni.ca/XYrb #speciation #evolution #Science #Biology #insects #ants #Fiji

Till Selection Do Us Part? Testing Sexual Selection’s Role in Speciation
Summary & Analysis by Pooja Radhakrishnan of "Evolutionary lability of sexual selection and its implications for speciation and macroevolution" by Januario et al.
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/April-2025-Januario.html

#Speciation #SexualSelection #Macroevolution #EEB

⚠️ Postdoctoral position at @lemoulon : mechanisms of reproductive isolation between crops and their wild relatives ⚠️

➡️ Location : @ideev.lab @universite_paris_saclay
Department : Quantitative Genetics and Evolution

➡️ Open and close dates: August 2025 until filled (will begin reviewing applications immediately).

➡️ https://moulon.inrae.fr
➡️ https://www.ideev.universite-paris-saclay.fr/news/2025/09/postdoctoral-scholar-position-mechanisms-of-reproductive-isolation-between-crops-and-their-wild-relatives-at-gqe-le-moulon/

#evolutionarygenomics #domestication #speciation #incompatibilities #plant @maudten #job #postdoc #emploi #postdoctoral #maudtenaillon

20-Aug-2025
Most known species evolved during 'explosions’ of diversity, shows first analysis across ‘tree of life’
Majority of living species concentrated among few disproportionately rich groups with high rates of diversification, shows first-of-its-kind study

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094699

#science #ecology #evolution #biodiversity #speciation

The molecular evolutionary basis of species formation revisited.

#Speciation #HybridIncompatibility #IncompatibilityGenes #SpeciationGenes

https://www.cell.com/trends/genetics/fulltext/S0168-9525(25)00167-2

Just published 'Dietary Differentiation Between Sympatric #Ecotypes of #Astatotilapia calliptera From Lake Masoko, #Tanzania Revealed by Metabarcoding'! https://bit.ly/3GTRKjI Great to be part of this work led by Dr Kirthana Pillay (FSBI PhD). Nostalgic, given that my MSci thesis looked at the population genetics in these #cichlids in "Darwin's puddle"! Diet of the benthic and littoral ecomorphs differ, indicating resource partitioning, implicating trophic divergence with sympatric #speciation.

How do mating signals diverge early in speciation? Rodríguez et al. conduct experimental host shifts with Enchenopa treehoppers that resulted in subtle but non-trivial signal divergence in a few generations. This was fueled by standing genetic variation and plasticity, and unrelated to host specialization.

Read now ahead of print!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/736182

#mating #speciation #treehoppers #generations #geneticVariation #genetics

This one is for the #squirrels in the crowd!
Deng et al. use population #genetic structure, interspecific relationships, lineage differentiation, and #speciation to reconstruct the #evolutionary history of #Chinese #walnuts! https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.13153
@WileyEcolEvol
#evolution #JSE #botany

3-Jun-2025
Study resolves diatom tree of life, could offer clues to Earth's puzzle
Research finds #diatoms evolved slowly for 100 million years and then experienced an evolutionary burst of #speciation 170 million years ago.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1086102

#science #evolution #ecology

New publication out 🆕 📤

"No evidence of transposable element bursts in the Galápagos Scalesia adaptive radiation despite hybridization, diversification and ecological niche shifts"

https://mobilednajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13100-025-00362-z

🔍 Despite rapid speciation, niche shifts, & hybridization, we found no significant TE accumulation differences across species or hybrids.
🌵 Even in arid-adapted lineages—where genome downsizing may be expected—TEs didn’t decline.
#TransposableElements #Speciation #AdaptiveRadiation #Genomics

Understanding the factors contributing to #genetic structure among closely related #sympatric species is crucial for grasping adaptive divergence and #speciation initiation. Learn why in this revealing new #JSE paper!
https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.13178
@WileyEcolEvol
#evolution #ficus #botany

A new population #genomic analysis by Liu et al. unravels the #evolutionary processes leading to budding #speciation in Rhodiola sect. Trifida.
Explore their findings, right here in the latest from #JIPB! 👇
https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13905
@wileyplantsci
#PlantSci #botany

🆕Interview: In this interview, Daniela Mera-Rodríguez, talks about a recent publication on 𝐴𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑦𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑥 𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑠 species complex. #taxonomy #nquilinism #parasitism #speciation

https://blog.myrmecologicalnews.org/2025/04/23/diversity-and-evolution-of-the-emacromyrmex-octospinosus-em-species-complex-a-century-old-taxonomic-puzzle/

15-Apr-2025
A tale of two hummingbird bills


There are two species of streamertail #hummingbirds on the island of #Jamaica, #WestIndies—one with red-billed males (Trochilus polytmus) and the other with black-billed males (T. scitulus). This is a puzzling situation, as many evolutionary biologists have argued that avian #speciation is unlikely to occur on small oceanic #islands.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1080172

#science #evolution #birds #ecology