Table 2 |
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Many of the documented examples of speciation in natural species fit the proposed model. |
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Species |
Nature of the phenotype associated to speciation |
Population structure and mutation load |
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Fish |
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Salmonidae |
Highly philopatric Studies on MHC give conflicting results suggesting optimal outbreeding model |
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Cichlids |
Bright colours typical of species are recessive (disappear in hybrids) |
Close preference for kin, with no detectable inbreeding depression |
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Sticklebacks |
EDA mutation (armour plate loss) is completely recessive Pitx1 mutation (loss of pelvic structures) is recessive |
Studies on MHC support optimal outbreeding model |
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Panmictic species (cod, macquerel, tuna...) |
Susceptible to large and unpredictable fluctuations in numbers |
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Birds |
Migrating birds are highly philopatric |
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Quail |
Preferential mating among cousins (led to Bateson's optimal oubreeding) |
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Darwin's finches |
High inbreeding coefficient due to small size of the niche |
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Mammals |
Rate of speciation inversely related to the effective size of populations |
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Mice and rats |
Very fragmented populations correlates with capacity to inbreed |
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Pikas |
Optimal outbreeding |
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Insects |
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Haplodiploids (bees, ants, termites) |
Very low mutations loads correlate with very high species richness, and global ecological success |
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Drosophila |
Mating preferences are recessive (disappear in F1) |
Assortative mating, and chromosomal rearrangements are more prominent between populations that are in close contact in the wild. H. Carson highlighted the correlation of speciation with small populations based mostly on data from drosophila. |
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Apple maggot fly |
Fruit preference is recessive (disappears in F1) |
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Heliconius mimetic butterflies |
Sexual preference of the males is asymmetric, and linked to the recessive yellow colour |
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Plants |
Selfing plants undergo more speciation, but the species go extinct more quickly |
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Monkey flowers |
The red derived phenotype is recessive to the pink ancestral one |
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Please refer to text in section V for relevant bibliographic references |
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Joly Biology Direct 2011 6:62 doi:10.1186/1745-6150-6-62 |
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