TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2

Click here to enter text.

Understanding Evolution ........................................................................................................... 4

The Origin of Life .............................................................................................................. 5

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection ................................................................... 6

Processes and Patterns of Evolution ………………………………………………………………

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 EVOLUTION AND ORIGIN OF SPECIES
INTRODUCTION
The field of biology is a diverse one that includes the study of organisms
from the small and simple to the large and complex. From biological molecules to biomes,
the one theme that remains consistent is evolution. All species of living organisms are
descended from a common ancestor. Although it may seem that living things today stay
much the same, this is not the case. Evolution is actually an ongoing process. Additionally,
new species are discovered regularly. For example, scientists have used a method called
fluorescent in situ hybridization, which uses fluorescent probes to locate specific genes on
chromosomes, to discover a green sea slug that can perform photosynthesis just like a
plant.1 The slug obtains genes related to photosynthesis from the algae it eats through a
process called horizontal gene transfer. In this process, genes can be transferred directly from
one cell to another. The algal genes code for products that repair and maintain chloroplasts
eaten by the slug.

Figure 1.1 All organisms are products of evolution adapted to their environment. (a) Saguaro
(Carnegiea gigantea) can soak up 750 liters of water in a single rain storm, enabling these cacti to
survive the dry conditions of the Sonora desert in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. (b)
The Andean semiaquatic lizard (Potamites montanicola) discovered in Peru in 2010 lives between
1,570 to 2,100 meters in elevation, and, unlike most lizards, is nocturnal and swims.

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UNDERSTANDING EVOLUTION

The Origin of Life

Humans have adopted many theories regarding the origin of life over the course of our time
on Earth. Early civilizations believed that life was created by supernatural forces. Organisms
were “hand-made” to be perfectly adapted to their environment and, therefore, did not
change over time. Some early thinkers, such as the Greek philosopher Aristotle, believed that
organisms belonged to a ladder of increasing complexity. Based on this understanding,
scientists such as Carolus Linnaeus attempted to organize all living things into classification
schemes that demonstrated an increasing complexity of life.

Over time, however, scientists came to understand that life was constantly evolving on Earth.
Georges Cuvier found that fossilized remains or organisms changed as he dug into deeper
rock layers (strata), indicating that the organisms present in the area had changed over time.
This observation led Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck to hypothesize that organisms adapted to
their environment by changing over time. As organisms used different parts of their body,
those parts improved, and these changes were passed down to their offspring. Ultimately,
these theories were disproven by scientists, but their development contributed to the theory
of evolution that was finally formulated by Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin and Natural Selection

In the mid-nineteenth century, the actual mechanism for evolution was independently
conceived of and described by two naturalists: Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
Importantly, each naturalist spent time exploring the natural world on expeditions to the
tropics. From 1831 to 1836, Darwin traveled around the world on H.M.S. Beagle, including
stops in South America, Australia, and the southern tip of Africa. Wallace traveled to Brazil
to collect insects in the Amazon rainforest from 1848 to 1852 and to the Malay Archipelago
from 1854 to 1862. Darwin’s journey, like Wallace’s later journeys to the Malay
Archipelago, included stops at several island chains, the last being the Galápagos Islands
west of Ecuador. On these islands, Darwin observed species of organisms on different
islands that were clearly similar, yet had distinct differences. For example, the ground
finches inhabiting the Galápagos Islands comprised several species with a unique beak shape
(Figure 1.2). The species on the islands had a graded series of beak sizes and shapes with
very small differences between the most similar. He observed that these finches closely
resembled another finch species on the mainland of South America. Darwin imagined that
the island species might be species modified from one of the original mainland species.
Upon further study, he realized that the varied beaks of each finch helped the birds acquire a
specific type of food. For example, seed-eating finches had stronger, thicker beaks for
breaking seeds, and insect-eating finches had spear-like beaks for stabbing their prey.

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Figure 1.2 Darwin observed that beak shape varies among finch species. He postulated that the
beak of an ancestral species had adapted over time to equip the finches to acquire different food
sources.

Wallace and Darwin both observed similar patterns in other organisms and they
independently developed the same explanation for how and why such changes could take
place. Darwin called this mechanism natural selection. Natural selection, also known as
“survival of the fittest,” is the more prolific reproduction of individuals with favorable traits
that survive environmental change because of those traits; this leads to evolutionary change.

For example, a population of giant tortoises found in the Galapagos Archipelago was
observed by Darwin to have longer necks than those that lived on other islands with dry
lowlands. These tortoises were “selected” because they could reach more leaves and access
more food than those with short necks. In times of drought when fewer leaves would be
available, those that could reach more leaves had a better chance to eat and survive than
those that couldn’t reach the food source. Consequently, long-necked tortoises would be
more likely to be reproductively successful and pass the long-necked trait to their offspring.
Over time, only long-necked tortoises would be present in the population.

Natural selection, Darwin argued, was an inevitable outcome of three principles that operated
in nature. First, most characteristics of organisms are inherited, or passed from parent to
offspring. Although no one, including Darwin and Wallace, knew how this happened at the
time, it was a common understanding. Second, more offspring are produced than are able to
survive, so resources for survival and reproduction are limited. The capacity for reproduction
in all organisms outstrips the availability of resources to support their numbers. Thus, there
is competition for those resources in each generation. Both Darwin and Wallace’s
understanding of this principle came from reading an essay by the economist Thomas
Malthus who discussed this principle in relation to human populations. Third, offspring vary
among each other in regard to their characteristics and those variations are inherited. Darwin
and Wallace reasoned that offspring with inherited characteristics which allow them to best
compete for limited resources will survive and have more offspring than those individuals
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with variations that are less able to compete. Because characteristics are inherited, these
traits will be better represented in the next generation. This will lead to change in populations
over generations in a process that Darwin called descent with modification. Ultimately,
natural selection leads to greater adaptation of the population to its local environment; it is
the only mechanism known for adaptive evolution.

Papers by Darwin and Wallace (Figure 1.3) presenting the idea of natural selection were read
together in 1858 before the Linnean Society in London. The following year Darwin’s
book, On the Origin of Species, was published. His book outlined in considerable detail his
arguments for evolution by natural selection.

Figure 1.3 Both (a) Charles Darwin and (b) Alfred Wallace wrote scientific papers on natural
selection that were presented together before the Linnean Society in 1858.

Demonstrations of evolution by natural selection are time consuming and difficult to obtain.
One of the best examples has been demonstrated in the very birds that helped to inspire
Darwin’s theory: the Galápagos finches. Peter and Rosemary Grant and their colleagues have
studied Galápagos finch populations every year since 1976 and have provided important
demonstrations of natural selection. The Grants found changes from one generation to the
next in the distribution of beak shapes with the medium ground finch on the Galápagos
island of Daphne Major. The birds have inherited variation in the bill shape with some birds
having wide deep bills and others having thinner bills. During a period in which rainfall was
higher than normal because of an El Niño, the large hard seeds that large-billed birds ate
were reduced in number; however, there was an abundance of the small soft seeds which the
small-billed birds ate. Therefore, survival and reproduction were much better in the
following years for the small-billed birds. In the years following this El Niño, the Grants
measured beak sizes in the population and found that the average bill size was smaller. Since
bill size is an inherited trait, parents with smaller bills had more offspring and the size of
bills had evolved to be smaller. As conditions improved in 1987 and larger seeds became
more available, the trend toward smaller average bill size ceased.

Processes and Patterns of Evolution

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Natural selection can only take place if there is variation, or differences, among individuals
in a population. Importantly, these differences must have some genetic basis; otherwise, the
selection will not lead to change in the next generation. This is critical because variation
among individuals can be caused by non-genetic reasons such as an individual being taller
because of better nutrition rather than different genes.

Genetic diversity in a population comes from two main mechanisms: mutation and sexual
reproduction. Mutation, a change in DNA, is the ultimate source of new alleles, or new
genetic variation in any population. The genetic changes caused by mutation can have one of
three outcomes on the phenotype. A mutation can affect the phenotype of the organism in a
way that gives it reduced fitness—lower likelihood of survival or fewer offspring.
Alternatively, a mutation may produce a phenotype with a beneficial effect on fitness. And,
many mutations will also have no effect on the fitness of the phenotype; these are called
neutral mutations. Mutations may also have a whole range of effect sizes on the fitness of the
organism that expresses them in their phenotype, from a small effect to a great effect. Sexual
reproduction also leads to genetic diversity: when two parents reproduce, unique
combinations of alleles assemble to produce the unique genotypes and thus phenotypes in
each of the offspring.

A heritable trait that helps the survival and reproduction of an organism in its present
environment is called an adaptation. Scientists describe groups of organisms becoming
adapted to their environment when a change in the range of genetic variation occurs over
time that increases or maintains the “fit” of the population to its environment. The webbed
feet of platypuses are an adaptation for swimming. The snow leopards’ thick fur is an
adaptation for living in the cold. The cheetahs’ fast speed is an adaptation for catching prey.

These adaptations can occur through the rearrangements of entire genomes or can be caused
by the mutation of a single gene. For example, dogs have 78 chromosomes while cats have
38. A large number of the characteristics that distinguish dogs from cats arose from
chromosomal rearrangements that have occurred since both groups diverged from their last
common ancestor. On the other hand, certain mice are white and other mice are black. The
difference in fur color occurs through the mutation of a single gene. Thus, as a result of a
single mutation, a mouse population can become more adapted to survive in snowy
environments versus a dark, forest floor.

Whether or not a trait is favorable depends on the environmental conditions at the time. The
same traits are not always selected because environmental conditions can change. For
example, consider a species of plant that grew in a moist climate and did not need to
conserve water. Large leaves were selected because they allowed the plant to obtain more
energy from the sun. Large leaves require more water to maintain than small leaves, and the
moist environment provided favorable conditions to support large leaves. After thousands of
years, the climate changed, and the area no longer had excess water. The direction of natural
selection shifted so that plants with small leaves were selected because those populations
were able to conserve water to survive the new environmental conditions.

The evolution of species has resulted in enormous variation in form and function. Sometimes,
evolution gives rise to groups of organisms that become tremendously different from each
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other. When two species evolve in diverse directions from a common point, it is called
divergent evolution. Such divergent evolution can be seen in the forms of the reproductive
organs of flowering plants which share the same basic anatomies; however, they can look
very different as a result of selection in different physical environments and adaptation to
different kinds of pollinators .

Figure 1.5 Flowering plants evolved from a common ancestor. Notice that the (a) dense blazing
star (Liatrus spicata) and the (b) purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) vary in appearance, yet
both share a similar basic morphology. (credit a: modification of work by Drew Avery; credit b:
modification of work by Cory Zanker)

In other cases, similar phenotypes evolve independently in distantly related species. For
example, flight has evolved in both bats and insects, and they both have structures we refer
to as wings, which are adaptations to flight. However, the wings of bats and insects have
evolved from very different original structures. This phenomenon is called convergent
evolution, where similar traits evolve independently in species that do not share a recent
common ancestry. The two species came to the same function, flying, but did so separately
from each other.

These physical changes occur over enormous spans of time and help explain how evolution
occurs. Natural selection acts on individual organisms, which in turn can shape an entire
species. Although natural selection may work in a single generation on an individual, it can
take thousands or even millions of years for the genotype of an entire species to evolve. It is
over these large time spans that life on earth has changed and continues to change.

Evidence of Evolution
The evidence for evolution is compelling and extensive. Looking at every level of
organization in living systems, biologists see the signature of past and present evolution.
Darwin dedicated a large portion of his book, On the Origin of Species, to identifying
patterns in nature that were consistent with evolution, and since Darwin, our understanding
has become clearer and broader.

Fossils

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Fossils provide solid evidence that organisms from the past are not the same as those found
today, and fossils show the gradual evolutionary changes over time. Scientists determine the
age of fossils and categorize them from all over the world to determine when the organisms
lived relative to each other. The resulting fossil record tells the story of the past and shows
the evolution of form over millions of years (Figure 1.6). For example, scientists have
recovered highly detailed records showing the evolution of humans and horses.

Figure 1.6 In this (a) display, fossil hominids are arranged from oldest (bottom) to newest (top). As
hominids evolved, the shape of the skull changed. An artist’s rendition of (b) extinct species of the
genus Equus reveals that these ancient species resembled the modern horse (Equus ferus) but
varied in size.

Anatomy and Embryology

Another type of evidence for evolution is the presence of structures in organisms that share
the same basic form. For example, the bones in the appendages of a human, dog, bird, and
whale all share the same overall construction (Figure 1.7) resulting from their origin in the
appendages of a common ancestor. Over time, evolution led to changes in the shapes and
sizes of these bones in different species, but they have maintained the same overall layout.
Scientists call these synonymous parts homologous structures.

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Figure 1.7 The similar construction of these appendages indicates that these organisms share a
common ancestor.

Some structures exist in organisms that have no apparent function at all, and appear to be
residual parts from a past common ancestor. These unused structures without function are
called vestigial structures. Examples of vestigial structures include wings on flightless birds,
leaves on some cacti, and hind leg bones in whales.

Another piece of evidence of evolution is the convergence of form in organisms that share
similar environments. For example, species of unrelated animals, such as the arctic fox and
ptarmigan, living in the arctic region have been selected for seasonal white phenotypes
during winter to blend with the snow and ice (Figure 1.8ab). These similarities occur not
because of common ancestry, but because of similar selection pressures—the benefits of not
being seen by predators.

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Figure 1.8 The white winter coat of the (a) arctic fox and the (b) ptarmigan’s plumage are
adaptations to their environments. (credit a: modification of work by Keith Morehouse)

Embryology, the study of the development of the anatomy of an organism to its adult form,
also provides evidence of relatedness between now widely divergent groups of organisms.
Mutational tweaking in the embryo can have such magnified consequences in the adult that
embryo formation tends to be conserved. As a result, structures that are absent in some
groups often appear in their embryonic forms and disappear by the time the adult or juvenile
form is reached. For example, all vertebrate embryos, including humans, exhibit gill slits and
tails at some point in their early development. These disappear in the adults of terrestrial
groups but are maintained in adult forms of aquatic groups such as fish and some amphibians.
Great ape embryos, including humans, have a tail structure during their development that is
lost by the time of birth.

FORMATION OF NEW SPEICES

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Species and the Ability to Reproduce
A species is a group of individual organisms that interbreed and produce fertile, viable
offspring. According to this definition, one species is distinguished from another when, in
nature, it is not possible for matings between individuals from each species to produce fertile
offspring.

Members of the same species share both external and internal characteristics, which develop
from their DNA. The closer relationship two organisms share, the more DNA they have in
common, just like people and their families. People’s DNA is likely to be more like their
father or mother’s DNA than their cousin or grandparent’s DNA. Organisms of the same
species have the highest level of DNA alignment and therefore share characteristics and
behaviors that lead to successful reproduction.

Species’ appearance can be misleading in suggesting an ability or inability to mate. For

example, even though domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) display phenotypic differences,
such as size, build, and coat, most dogs can interbreed and produce viable puppies that can
mature and sexually reproduce (Figure 1.9).

Figure 1.9 The (a) poodle and (b) cocker spaniel can reproduce to produce a breed known as (c)
the cockapoo. (credit a: modification of work by Sally Eller, Tom Reese; credit b: modification of
work by Jeremy McWilliams; credit c: modification of work by Kathleen Conklin)

In other cases, individuals may appear similar although they are not members of the same
species. For example, even though bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and African fish
eagles (Haliaeetus vocifer) are both birds and eagles, each belongs to a separate species
group (Figure 1.10). If humans were to artificially intervene and fertilize the egg of a bald
eagle with the sperm of an African fish eagle and a chick did hatch, that offspring, called a
hybrid (a cross between two species), would probably be infertile—unable to successfully
reproduce after it reached maturity. Different species may have different genes that are active
in development; therefore, it may not be possible to develop a viable offspring with two
different sets of directions. Thus, even though hybridization may take place, the two species
still remain separate.

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Figure 1.10 The (a) African fish eagle is similar in appearance to the (b) bald eagle, but the two
birds are members of different species. (credit a: modification of work by Nigel Wedge; credit b:
modification of work by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Populations of species share a gene pool: a collection of all the variants of genes in the
species. Again, the basis to any changes in a group or population of organisms must be
genetic for this is the only way to share and pass on traits. When variations occur within a
species, they can only be passed to the next generation along two main pathways: asexual
reproduction or sexual reproduction. The change will be passed on asexually simply if the
reproducing cell possesses the changed trait. For the changed trait to be passed on by sexual
reproduction, a gamete, such as a

sperm or egg cell, must possess the changed trait. In other words, sexually-reproducing
organisms can experience several genetic

changes in their body cells, but if these changes do not occur in a sperm or egg cell, the
changed trait will never reach the next generation. Only heritable traits can evolve. Therefore,
reproduction plays a paramount role for genetic change to take root in a population or
species. In short, organisms must be able to reproduce with each other to pass new traits to
offspring.

Speciation
The biological definition of species, which works for sexually reproducing organisms, is a
group of actually or potentially interbreeding individuals. There are exceptions to this rule.
Many species are similar enough that hybrid offspring are possible and may often occur in
nature, but for the majority of species this rule generally holds. In fact, the presence in nature
of hybrids between similar species suggests that they may have descended from a single
interbreeding species, and the speciation process may not yet be complete.

Given the extraordinary diversity of life on the planet there must be mechanisms
for speciation: the formation of two species from one original species. Darwin envisioned
this process as a branching event and diagrammed the process in the only illustration found
in On the Origin of Species (Figure 1.11a). Compare this illustration to the diagram of
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elephant evolution (Figure 1.11b), which shows that as one species changes over time, it
branches to form more than one new species, repeatedly, as long as the population survives
or until the organism becomes extinct.

Figure 1.11 The only illustration in Darwin's On the Origin of Species is (a) a diagram showing
speciation events leading to biological diversity. The diagram shows similarities to phylogenetic
charts that are drawn today to illustrate the relationships of species. (b) Modern elephants evolved
from the Palaeomastodon, a species that lived in Egypt 35–50 million years ago.

For speciation to occur, two new populations must be formed from one original population
and they must evolve in such a way that it becomes impossible for individuals from the two
new populations to interbreed. Biologists have proposed mechanisms by which this could
occur that fall into two broad categories. Allopatric speciation (allo- = "other"; -patric =
"homeland") involves geographic separation of populations from a parent species and
subsequent evolution. Sympatric speciation (sym- = "same"; -patric = "homeland") involves
speciation occurring within a parent species remaining in one location.

Biologists think of speciation events as the splitting of one ancestral species into two
descendant species. There is no reason why there might not be more than two species formed
at one time except that it is less likely and multiple events can be conceptualized as single
splits occurring close in time.

Allopatric Speciation
A geographically continuous population has a gene pool that is relatively homogeneous.
Gene flow, the movement of alleles across the range of the species, is relatively free because
individuals can move and then mate with individuals in their new location. Thus, the
frequency of an allele at one end of a distribution will be similar to the frequency of the
allele at the

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other end. When populations become geographically discontinuous, that free-flow of alleles
is prevented. When that separation lasts for a period of time, the two populations are able to
evolve along different trajectories. Thus, their allele frequencies at numerous genetic loci
gradually become more and more different as new alleles independently arise by mutation in
each population. Typically, environmental conditions, such as climate, resources, predators,
and competitors for the two populations will differ causing natural selection to favor
divergent adaptations in each group.

Isolation of populations leading to allopatric speciation can occur in a variety of ways: a

river forming a new branch, erosion forming a new valley, a group of organisms traveling to
a new location without the ability to return, or seeds floating over the ocean to an island. The
nature of the geographic separation necessary to isolate populations depends entirely on the
biology of the organism and its potential for dispersal. If two flying insect populations took
up residence in separate nearby valleys, chances are, individuals from each population would
fly back and forth continuing gene flow. However, if two rodent populations became divided
by the formation of a new lake, continued gene flow would be unlikely; therefore, speciation
would be more likely.

Biologists group allopatric processes into two categories: dispersal and

vicariance. Dispersal is when a few members of a species move to a new geographical area,
and vicariance is when a natural situation arises to physically divide organisms.

Scientists have documented numerous cases of allopatric speciation taking place. For
example, along the west coast of the United States, two separate sub-species of spotted owls
exist. The northern spotted owl has genetic and phenotypic differences from its close relative:
the Mexican spotted owl, which lives in the south (Figure 1.12).

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Figure 1.12 The northern spotted owl and the Mexican spotted owl inhabit geographically
separate locations with different climates and ecosystems. The owl is an example of allopatric
speciation. (credit "northern spotted owl": modification of work by John and Karen Hollingsworth;
credit "Mexican spotted owl": modification of work by Bill Radke)

Additionally, scientists have found that the farther the distance between two groups that once
were the same species, the more likely it is that speciation will occur. This seems logical
because as the distance increases, the various environmental factors would likely have less in
common than locations in close proximity. Consider the two owls: in the north, the climate is
cooler than in the south; the types of organisms in each ecosystem differ, as do their
behaviors and habits; also, the hunting habits and prey choices of the southern owls vary
from the northern owls. These variances can lead to evolved differences in the owls, and
speciation likely will occur.

Adaptive Radiation
In some cases, a population of one species disperses throughout an area, and each population
finds a distinct niche or isolated habitat. Over time, the varied demands of their new
lifestyles lead to multiple speciation events originating from a single species. This is called
adaptive radiation because many adaptations evolve from a single point of origin; thus,
causing the species to radiate into several new ones. Island archipelagos like the Hawaiian
Islands provide an ideal context for adaptive radiation events because water surrounds each
island which leads to geographical isolation for many organisms. The Hawaiian
honeycreeper illustrates one example of adaptive radiation. From a single species, called the
founder species, numerous species have evolved, including the six shown in Figure 1.13.

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Figure 1.13 The honeycreeper birds illustrate adaptive radiation. From one original species of bird,
multiple others evolved, each with its own distinctive characteristics.

Notice the differences in the species’ beaks in Figure 1.13. Evolution in response to natural
selection based on specific food sources in each new habitat led to evolution of a different
beak suited to the specific food source. The seed-eating bird has a thicker, stronger beak
which is suited to break hard nuts. The nectar-eating birds have long beaks to dip into
flowers to reach the nectar. The insect-eating birds have beaks like swords, appropriate for
stabbing and impaling insects. Darwin’s finches are another example of adaptive radiation in
an archipelago.

Habitat Influence on Speciation

Sympatric speciation may also take place in ways other than polyploidy. For example,
consider a species of fish that lives in a lake. As the population grows, competition for food
also grows. Under pressure to find food, suppose that a group of these fish had the genetic
flexibility to discover and feed off another resource that was unused by the other fish. What
if this new food source was found at a different depth of the lake? Over time, those feeding
on the second food source would interact more with each other than the other fish; therefore,
they would breed together as well. Offspring of these fish would likely behave as their
parents: feeding and living in the same area and keeping separate from the original
population. If this group of fish continued to remain separate from the first population,
eventually sympatric speciation might occur as more genetic differences accumulated
between them.

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This scenario does play out in nature, as do others that lead to reproductive isolation. One
such place is Lake Victoria in Africa, famous for its sympatric speciation of cichlid fish.
Researchers have found hundreds of sympatric speciation events in these fish, which have
not only happened in great number, but also over a short period of time. Figure 1.14 shows
this type of speciation among a cichlid fish population in Nicaragua. In this locale, two types
of cichlids live in the same geographic location but have come to have different
morphologies that allow them to eat various food sources.

Figure 1.14 Cichlid fish from Lake Apoyeque, Nicaragua, show evidence of sympatric speciation.
Lake Apoyeque, a crater lake, is 1800 years old, but genetic evidence indicates that the lake was
populated only 100 years ago by a single population of cichlid fish. Nevertheless, two populations
with distinct morphologies and diets now exist in the lake, and scientists believe these populations
may be in an early stage of speciation.

RECONNECTION
After speciation, two species may continue interacting indefinitely or even recombine.
Individual organisms will mate with any nearby individual who they are capable of breeding
with. An area where two closely related species continue to interact and reproduce, forming
hybrids, is called a hybrid zone. Over time, the hybrid zone may change depending on the
fitness of the hybrids and the reproductive barriers (Figure 1.15). If the hybrids are less fit
than the parents, reinforcement of speciation occurs, and the species continue to diverge until
they can no longer mate and produce viable offspring. If reproductive barriers weaken,
fusion occurs and the two species become one. Barriers remain the same if hybrids are fit
and reproductive: stability may occur and hybridization continues.

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Figure 1.15 After speciation has occurred, the two separate but closely related species may
continue to produce offspring in an area called the hybrid zone. Reinforcement, fusion, or stability
may result, depending on reproductive barriers and the relative fitness of the hybrids .

Hybrids can be either less fit than the parents, more fit, or about the same. Usually hybrids
tend to be less fit; therefore, such reproduction diminishes over time, nudging the two
species to diverge further in a process called reinforcement. This term is used because the
low success of the hybrids reinforces the original speciation. If the hybrids are as fit or more
fit than the parents, the two species may fuse back into one species (Figure 1.16). Scientists
have also observed that sometimes two species will remain separate but also continue to
interact to produce some hybrid individuals; this is classified as stability because no real net
change is taking place.

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Figure 1.16 In (a) gradual speciation, species diverge at a slow, steady pace as traits change
incrementally. In (b) punctuated equilibrium, species diverge quickly and then remain unchanged
for long periods of time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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 NCERT : https://ncert.nic.in/ (Biology class 12)

 The National Center for Science Education : https://ncse.ngo/

 University of California,Berkley : https://evolution.berkeley.edu/

 PBS Evolution Series : http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/

 The British Council - Darwin Now :

https://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/

 The Talk.Origins Archive : http://www.talkorigins.org/

 The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History :

https://naturalhistory.si.edu/

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