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Stankowski S, Ravinet M. Defining the speciation continuum. Evolution. 2021;75(6):1256-1273doi: 10.1111/evo.14215.
Stankowski, S., & Ravinet, M. (2021). Defining the speciation continuum. Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, 75(6), 1256-1273. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14215
Stankowski, Sean, and Ravinet, Mark. "Defining the speciation continuum." Evolution; international journal of organic evolution vol. 75,6 (2021): 1256-1273. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14215
Stankowski S, Ravinet M. Defining the speciation continuum. Evolution. 2021 Jun;75(6):1256-1273. doi: 10.1111/evo.14215. Epub 2021 May 05. PMID: 33754340.
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Evolution. 2021 Jun;75(6):1256-1273. doi: 10.1111/evo.14215. Epub 2021 May 05.

Defining the speciation continuum.

Evolution; international journal of organic evolution

Sean Stankowski, Mark Ravinet

Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, United Kingdom.
  2. Current Address: Sean Stankowski, IST Austria, Klosterneuburg, 3400, Austria.
  3. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, 0316, Norway.
  4. School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.

PMID: 33754340 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14215

Abstract

A primary roadblock to our understanding of speciation is that it usually occurs over a timeframe that is too long to study from start to finish. The idea of a speciation continuum provides something of a solution to this problem; rather than observing the entire process, we can simply reconstruct it from the multitude of speciation events that surround us. But what do we really mean when we talk about the speciation continuum, and can it really help us understand speciation? We explored these questions using a literature review and online survey of speciation researchers. Although most researchers were familiar with the concept and thought it was useful, our survey revealed extensive disagreement about what the speciation continuum actually tells us. This is due partly to the lack of a clear definition. Here, we provide an explicit definition that is compatible with the Biological Species Concept. That is, the speciation continuum is a continuum of reproductive isolation. After outlining the logic of the definition in light of alternatives, we explain why attempts to reconstruct the speciation process from present-day populations will ultimately fail. We then outline how we think the speciation continuum concept can continue to act as a foundation for understanding the continuum of reproductive isolation that surrounds us.

© 2021 The Authors. Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Keywords: Comparative analysis; isolating barriers; reproductive isolation; species concepts

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