#speciation #taxonomy #habitat

"How Ecotypes Harbor the Genetic Memory of a Species’ Past

Evolutionary biologists are uncovering genomic mechanisms that allow populations to adapt quickly to different, hyperlocal habitats without splitting into new species.

(. . .)

Around 50 years earlier, the botanist Göte Turesson had had a similar revelation in a similar setting. As he walked Sweden’s shores, he noticed that saltbush plants from different stretches of coastline had distinct traits — earlier or later flowering times, or shorter or longer stalks — and between habitats, those traits fell somewhere in the middle. He bred the plants in his home garden and found that these distinct traits had a genetic basis even though they arose from the same species. In 1922, he published his results (opens a new tab) and coined the term 'ecotype' to describe a subpopulation of a species adapted to a hyperlocal habitat.

At that time, the definition of a species was even less clear than it is today. Genes were still theoretical, and the structure of DNA wouldn’t be discovered for another 30 years. Turesson 'struggled to be accepted,' said Johannesson, now the director of Tjärnö Marine Laboratory at the University of Gothenberg. How can a species contain multiple distinct phenotypes — or sets of traits — without separating into two species? 'He had quite a job to try to convince his colleagues that there were inherited differences and local adaptation within species,' she said."

https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-ecotypes-harbor-the-genetic-memory-of-a-species-past-20260521/

Underground #evolution: Study reveals how new #cavefish species emerged https://news.yale.edu/2026/05/21/underground-evolution-study-reveals-how-new-cavefish-species-emerged

Aquifer-mediated #speciation in cave-adapted fishes https://academic.oup.com/iob/advance-article/doi/10.1093/iob/obag021/8684975

"three species of Southern cavefish evolved from a common ancestor that had adapted to life #underground and dispersed through aquifers in soluble #subterranean rock formations. It provides the best evidence to date that speciation can occur in species adapted to only survive in subterranean ecosystems."

#Fish #Caves

A recent study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that many bird species possess wing shapes surprisingly ill-suited to their flight performance. In contrast, penguins and hummingbirds stand out as exceptions, having evolved wing shapes closely matched to their specialised style of movement.
#evolution #biodiversity #birds #flying #speciation

https://www.newswise.com/articles/ost-birds-have-not-evolved-optimal-wing-shapes-for-flight-study-finds/?sc=c39

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

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