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
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.
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
⚠️ 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
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.
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
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.
Exam in progress
Evolution, from speciation to conflict and cooperation bwn species
New element
Draw pictures in answers
Had students practice all semester
One drawing lesson per lecture
Also checking on Philip Ball's
#HowLifeWorks
#species #speciation #Evolution #Conflict #cooperation #inclusiveFitness #ants #biology #Iceland #UniversityIceland
Januario et al. found no correlation between sexual selection intensity & speciation rates or proxy traits. Because sexual selection intensity has high intraspecific variation and low phylogenetic signal, its macroevolutionary impacts are weak. Read now!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/734457
#sexualSelection #speciation #intraspecificVariation #phylogenetics #macroevolution
