Speciation Definitions Quiz

Speciation Definitions

• Allopatric: Populations or species geographically separated, preventing gene flow.
• Allopatric Speciation: Speciation caused by geographical barriers, leading to reproductive isolation.
• Biological Species Concept (BSC): Species are groups of populations whose members can interbreed and produce fertile offspring, with reproductive isolation as a key factor.
• Dispersal: Individuals or populations move away from their origin, leading to colonization of new habitats and potentially speciation.
• Dobzhansky-Muller Incompatibility (DMI): When diverged populations accumulate different mutations, leading to reduced hybrid fitness.
• Ecological Isolation: Species exploit different resources or occupy different habitats in the same area, limiting interactions and reproduction.
• Ecological Speciation: Speciation stemming from divergent selection based on different ecological niches.
• Epistasis: One gene's effect modified by others, potentially influencing speciation.
• Founder Effect: Reduced genetic diversity in a new population founded by a small group, potentially leading to rapid speciation.

Other Speciation Concepts

• Genetic Conflict: Conflicting genetic interests influencing evolutionary changes and speciation.
• Haldane's Rule: If hybrid offspring exhibit absence, rarity, or sterility in one sex, that sex is usually the heterogametic one (e.g., males in XY systems).
• Hybrid Zone: Area where two or more populations meet and interbreed, leading to genetic mixing.
• Introgression (Introgressive Hybridization): Transfer of genetic material between species through hybridization and backcrossing.
• Inversion: Chromosomal mutation where a segment of DNA reverses, potentially affecting reproductive isolation.
• Isolating Mechanism: Barriers preventing gene flow between species, promoting speciation.
• Parapatric: Populations geographically adjacent but experience limited interbreeding due to environmental differences.
• Parapatric Speciation: Speciation within adjacent populations, affected by environmental variation.
• Peripatric Speciation: Speciation in a small population isolated at the periphery of a large population's range.
• Phylogenetic Species Concept (PSC): Defining species based on evolutionary history, emphasizing unique genetic characteristics.
• Postzygotic Barrier: Reproductive barrier occurring after fertilization, preventing hybrid offspring development.
• Prezygotic Barrier: Reproductive barrier occurring before fertilization, preventing mating or fertilization.
• Reciprocal Translocation: Chromosomal segments exchanged between chromosomes, potentially driving isolation.
• Reinforcement: Natural selection strengthening prezygotic barriers to reproduction in hybrid offspring.
• Reproductive Isolating Barrier (RIB): Factors preventing individuals of different species from mating or producing viable offspring.
• Reproductive Isolation: Mechanisms preventing interbreeding and fertile offspring production, essential for maintaining species distinctions.
• Secondary Contact: Previously isolated populations encountering each other, leading to hybridization, reinforcement, or further divergence.
• Segregation Distortion: Alleles' increased transmission leading to non-Mendelian inheritance, potentially impacting speciation.
• Sexual Isolation: Reproductive isolation due to differences in mating rituals or preferences.
• Sister Species: Closely related species sharing a recent common ancestor and similar traits.
• Speciation: Evolutionary process leading to distinct species, often involving reproductive isolation.
• Speciation Gene (and Speciation Trait): Genes/traits influencing reproductive isolation and population divergence.
• Speciation with Gene Flow: Speciation occurring with ongoing gene flow between populations.
• Sympatric: Populations occupying the same geographic area, potentially interbreeding.
• Sympatric Speciation: Speciation within the same geographic area, often influenced by ecological or behavioral niches.
• Vicariance: Population split due to a physical barrier (e.g., mountain range, river), driving allopatric speciation.