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Chapitre D'ouvrage Année : 2009

The evolutionary nature of diversification in sexuals and asexuals

Résumé

Species are fundamental units of biology, but there remains uncertainty on both the pattern and processes of species existence. Are species real evolutionary entities or not? If they exist, what are the main processes causing independent evolution and character divergence to occur? This chapter describes how systematic analyses of combined DNA and morphological data can be used to shed light on the evolutionary nature and origin of species. One widely debated testcase has been the question of whether asexual organisms diversify into species; but empirical studies are rare and discussions have often been hampered by allegiance to restrictive species concepts. We present an alternative approach, testing a set of hypotheses for what evolutionary entities might be present in a classic asexual clade, the bdelloid rotifers. Combined analyses of genetic and morphological data reveal the existence of distinct entities conforming to the predicted effects of independent evolution and isolation between sub-lineages. Interestingly, different components of what is meant by ‘species' do not strictly coincide. We discuss the applicability of related methods to sexual lineages and to the question of whether higher taxa are real.
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Dates et versions

hal-00412458 , version 1 (01-09-2009)

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  • HAL Id : hal-00412458 , version 1

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Timothy G. Barraclough, Diego Fontaneto, Elisabeth A. Herniou, Claudia Ricci. The evolutionary nature of diversification in sexuals and asexuals. Cambridge University Press. Speciation and Patterns of Diversity, Roger K. Butlin, Jon R. Bridle and Dolph Schulter, pp.29-45, 2009. ⟨hal-00412458⟩
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