Evolutionary split up without geographic barriers
A fundamental question in evolutionary research is: is a geographic barrier dividing the original population into two genetically separated populations required for the origin of new species? Or is so-called sympatric speciation also possible - the evolutionary divergence of a population within the same geographical area? Only few examples of sympatric speciation are known worldwide, and even these are not without controversy. Evolutionary biologists in Konstanz now have completed the most extensive study of sympatric speciation so far. They used around 20,000 characteristics of 450 fish to document the parallel evolution of cichlid fish in two crater lakes, Apoyo and Xiloá, in Nicaragua. The research carried out by the team of biologists around Professor Axel Meyer and Dr Andreas Kautt found conclusive evidence for possible evolutionary mechanisms of sympatric speciation. At the same time, the researchers underpinned the empirical evidence that had resulted from Axel Meyer's previous study on the...
