Species concepts

1
Species concepts

• Biologists argue about the definition of a
  species.
• One useful definition is the Biological Species
  Concept,
• Another is the Phylogenetic Species Concept,
  which defines species as genetically distinct
  lineages (descendants of a shared ancestor)

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Biological Species Concept (BSC)

• A species is a reproductive community- a group of
  organisms that can interbreed and produce viable,
  fertile offspring.
• Species are reproductively isolated from each
  other (dont interbreed with other species)
  because of genetically determined
  characteristics.
• What kind of characteristics cause this?

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Prezygotic reproductive barriers

• Characteristics that prevent individuals of two
  species from mating with one another or prevent
  fertilization.
• Examples include different mate-attracting
  behaviors, breeding times, habitat preferences,
  sperm-recognition proteins, mechanical barriers
  to mating, etc.

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Example of a prezygotic barrier to hybridization
Eastern and Western meadowlarks dont hybridize
because females prefer the song of their own
species.
(The links are to sound files)
Eastern Sturnella magna
Western- Sturnella neglecta
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Postzygotic barriers

• Characteristics that prevent hybrid zygotes from
  developing or reproducing or lead to lower
  survival of hybrids
• Characters that cause hybrids to be sterile or
  less fertile, e.g. mules are sterile (hybrids of
  donkey Equus asinus and horse Equus caballus)

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BSC defines species by reproductive isolation,
not by degree of similarity
Different species can be very similar, and
Populations of the same species can be rather
different
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Problems with BSC
(Biological species concept)

• Reproductive isolation is often difficult to test
  directly (whether two populations are capable of
  interbreeding).
• BSC only applies to organisms that reproduce
  sexually. Many organisms dont, including all
  prokaryotes many animals and plants.
• There are other ways to define species

8
Alternative to BSC the Phylogenetic Species
Concept

• A species is a group of nearest relatives (a
  clade) that is genetically distinct from other
  groups by sharing unique alleles inherited from a
  shared ancestor.
• Problem how different must two groups be, to
  qualify as different species?
• Debate Are two or more species concepts needed?

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Speciation

• How does one population get different enough from
  the others to become a new species?
• How do the members of that population become
  unable to interbreed with the others?

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Allopatric vs sympatric
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Allopatric speciation

• A geographic barrier separates two populations
  and prevents gene flow.
• New alleles, different selection pressures,
  genetic drift cause the two gene pools to diverge
• Differences evolve and eventually lead to
  reproductive isolation

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The Grand Canyon- a geographic barrier
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Sibling species found on opposite sides of the
Grand Canyon
Kaibab squirrelSciurus kaibabensis North Rim
Abert squirrelSciurus aberti South Rim
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Elevation map of North America
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(No Transcript)
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River basins of the Ozark Plateaus
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Sibling species in adjacent river basins
Cardinal shinerNeosho River system
Dusky-stripe shinerWhite River system
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Sibling species in adjacent river basins
Pleas musselWhite River system
Ellipse mussel Neosho River system
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Speciation, continued

• Separation of gene pools loss of gene flow
  between populations
• Evolution of differences between populations
• Allele frequencies
• different alleles
• Evolution of reproductive isolating mechanisms

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Sympatric speciation

• Sympatric (same place) vs. allopatric (different
  place)
• A population is separated from the rest by
  mechanisms other than geography
• probably less common than allopatric speciation
  but still important

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Polyploidy

• can cause instant sympatric speciation in plants
  and animals
• Extra set(s) of chromosomes (Ngt2)
• Autopolyploids extra set(s) from the same
  species.
• Allopolyploids extra set(s) from another species

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Autopolyploid

• More than 2 sets of chromosomes, all derived from
  one parent species

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Polyploidy

• Animal polyploids are nearly always
  autopolyploids
• In plants, both auto and allopolyploids occur.
• Plant polyploids are often productive- many crops
  are polyploids, including wheat, oats, potatoes,
  cotton, coffee, most fruit crops

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Sympatric speciation of treefrogs by polyploidy
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Missouri treefrogs

• Hyla chrysoscelis (Copes grey treefrog)
• diploidfast trillsmall red blood cells
• Hyla versicolor (grey treefrog)
• tetraploid slow trilllarge red blood cells

Ptacek, M., H. Gerhardt, and R. Sage. 1994.
Speciation By Polyploidy in Treefrogs Multiple
Origins of the Tetraploid, Hyla versicolor.
Evolution 48 898-908
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Can man create new species?

• Sure.
• Artificial selection for characteristics that
  cause reproductive isolation can create new
  species.
• If this seems weird, just think about the
  definition of a species.