BI111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 72: Stabilizing Selection, Reproductive Isolation, Ploidy
Document Summary
Rate of speciation: the evolutionary process by which populations diverge to form new species. Modern species may share a common ancestor, but they don"t stop evolving once they have split from their cousins. According to darwin, small incremental changes result in divergence of traits within species, eventually leading to splitting of populations and the emergence of new species. Proposed that species traits are mostly stable, but rare events impose strong selective pressure that leads to rapid speciation rates over short rates of time. Long periods of stasis during which little morphological change occurs, maintained by stabilizing selection.
