Lecture 34

Evolution of Species
Adaptive radiation:
Speciation Development of a variety
of species from a founder
species.
Occurs when new habitat
becomes available for a
population.

What is a Population? Occurrence of Isolated

Group of individuals of same Population
species that will breed under Distant islands.
normal conditions.
Will not interbreed with other High mountain tops.
species because: Some lakes.
Behavior, e.g. different songs. Deep water thermal vents.
Seasonal differences, e.g. species
flower at different times.
Other barriers, e.g. physical

What is a Species? Variations Within Species

Interbreeding natural
population that produces
fertile offspring.
Reproductively isolated from races?
races?
other populations.
ethnicity?
ethnicity?
clines?
clines?

Homo
Homosapien
sapien

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 Variations Within Species Variations Within Species

Brassica oleracea var. oleracea

Canis
Canis familiaris
familiaris Has been bred to form many other
varieties of vegetable plants:

Varieties of Brassica oleracea Differences Between Species

May Be Relatively Minor

Broccoli Cabbage Cauliflower

Brussels
Sprouts

Collards
Kohlrabi Kale

How are New Species Formed? Many Definition for Species

Concepts of Speciation Directly
Relates to Darwin’s Concepts of Biological Species Concept
Evolution by Natural Selection: (most common)
Variability in the population Ecological Species Concept
Environmental change
Evolutionary Species Concept
Isolation of the population
Plus time =
Adaptation
leading to
a new
species

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 Biological Species
Groups of interbreeding
natural populations
Reproductively isolated from
other such groups
+ =
Horses can mate with horses
Biological Species
If a horse mates with a
donkey, a mule is borne.
+ =
Biological Concept
Definition not perfect.
Some organisms reproduce
vegetatively (=asexually
asexually)
Fossils cannot be defined
according to ability to reproduce.
Fossil leaf Banana
Biological Species
Groups of interbreeding
natural populations
Reproductively isolated from
other such groups
+ =
Donkeys can mate with donkeys
Biological Concept
Horse X donkey = mule.
Horses reproductively isolated
from donkeys, developmentally
speaking.
Horses and donkeys different
species.
Mules are sterile, cannot
reproduce and are therefore
not species.
Other Species Concepts
Ecological Concept: A set of
organisms adapted to a particular
set of resources (=niche).
Remember from exam 1: no two
species will occupy the same
ecological niche.
Evolutionary Concept: a lineage
(an ancestral-descendant
sequence of populations) evolving
separately from others and with its
own unitary evolutionary role and
tendencies
And Many Many More…….
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 New Species Formation New Species Formation
Speciation:
Speciation New species
formation.
Different means by which new
species may form:
Species derived from pre-existing
and closely related species. Sympatric Speciation:
Speciation
Species forming at the same
place and time.
Allopatric Speciation:
Speciation
Species forming through
geographical separation.

Sympatric Speciation - Animals

Sympatric Speciation -
Plants Usually occurs in small
geographical areas:
Lake Malawi, in Africa, contains
over 450 species of Cichlids!!!

Sympatric Speciation - Animals Allopatric Speciation

Zebra Cichlids
distinguished by color
Speciation caused by
of dorsal fins: barriers such as mountains,
Yellow mates rivers or oceans.
with yellow,
blue with blue,
red with red,
etc.
Color of fins
keep species
reproductively
isolated.

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 Allopatric
Allopatric Speciation
Speciation Case
Case Darwin’s
Darwin’s Study
Study Finches
Darwin’s
Finches
Finches Finches
similar in
size, shape
and
coloration.
Differences
in size and
shape of
beak.

Darwin’s Finches Adaptive Radiation in Hawai‘i

Beak determines type of food
they eat. Silverswords and Lobelioids.
Honeycreeper birds.
Land snails.
Many groups of insects.
considered premiere evolutionary
events and reason why Hawai‘i is
considered idea place to study
evolution.

Adaptive Radiation Adaptive Radiation

Diversification Species “radiated” to various
of species in forms: HIGH
different forms. DRY
Each form is WET
specifically
adapted to a
specific
environmental
niche.
Common on
islands, like
Hawai‘i.
A single species from California landed in Hawai‘i

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 Adaptive Radiation
Adaptive Radiation
These genera and species are the
“Silversword
Silversword Alliance”
Alliance and found in
every elevation and rainfall regime:

Kaua‘i ‘Akialoa ‘Akiapola‘au

Long, curved beak adapted
for feeding on nectar in
Lobeliad flowers.
Endangered. Possibly
extinct. Not seen since
1965.
¯ ¯
Long, curved upper beak
adapted for probing into
wood, searching for insects.
Lower beak adapted for
digging into wood.

Hawaiian Tree Snails O‘ahu Tree Snails

Snails slow and unable to move
far.
Usually entire tree spent on
same tree in which they were Each ridge with
a different species
borne.
Easy for populations to become
isolated and speciation to
occur.

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 Rapid Speciation? blackburni ~75°

Five species of Omiodes moths reared

only from banana.
banana
Banana introduced 1500 years ago.
musicola
That means speciation occurred <1500 ~90° ~65°
meyricki
years.

sp. nr. O. blackburni

(Pritchardia)
O. euryprora O. fullawayi
(banana) (banana) maia ~85°
~75°
fullawayi

O. meyricki O. musicola O. maia

(banana) (banana) (banana)

Allopatric Speciation Experimental Evidence

Evidence: Geographical pattern of Experimental evidence for
subspecies of Strix occidentalis. speciation:
Same species in different location,
genetically and physically Fruit
different. Flies

Evidence for Speciation? Evidence for Speciation?

“Ontogeny Recapitulates “Ontogeny Recapitulates
Phylogeny” Phylogeny”
Attempts to explain similarities
between human and other
animals.
Embryo development mimics
evolutionary development.
All vertebrate embryos develop
in similar way.
Points to common origin in
evolutionary line.
Originated by Ernst Haeckel - 1866