What is speciation?
Q: What is speciation?
A: Speciation is the process of how species form. It is a major part of evolutionary biology.
Q: What did Darwin think about the formation of species?
A: Darwin thought that most species came directly from pre-existing species, which he called anagenesis or 'phyletic evolution'.
Q: How was speciation generally viewed in the 20th century?
A: In the 20th century, scientists thought that most species were formed when earlier species split, which was known as cladogenesis. It was also believed that this splitting was caused or helped by isolating mechanisms such as physical separation.
Q: How has recent research changed our understanding of speciation?
A: Recent research has shown that hybridisation between related species can occur and genes can be transferred through these crosses. This means reproductive isolation is not always necessary for defining a species and allopatry (physical separation) may not be required for speciation to take place.
Q: What does physical separation have to do with new species formation?
A: Physical separation between once coexisting species is believed to be a main factor in new species formation, illustrated by many examples discussed in scientific literature.
