Journal Article10.1038/NATURE07893
Adaptation and diversification on islands
TL;DR: Charles Darwin's travels on HMS Beagle taught him that islands are an important source of evidence for evolution, and island research provides valuable insights into speciation and adaptive radiation, and into the relative importance of contingency and determinism in evolutionary diversification.
read more
Abstract: Charles Darwin's travels on HMS Beagle taught him that islands are an important source of evidence for evolution. Because many islands are young and have relatively few species, evolutionary adaptation and species proliferation are obvious and easy to study. In addition, the geographical isolation of many islands has allowed evolution to take its own course, free of influence from other areas, resulting in unusual faunas and floras, often unlike those found anywhere else. For these reasons, island research provides valuable insights into speciation and adaptive radiation, and into the relative importance of contingency and determinism in evolutionary diversification.
read more
Chat with Paper
AI Agents for this Paper
Find similar papers on Google Scholar, PubMed and Arxiv
Write a critical review of this paper
Analyze citations of this paper to find unaddressed research gaps
Citations
Rapid size change associated with intra-island evolutionary radiation in extinct Caribbean “island-shrews”
Roseina Woods,Roseina Woods,Samuel T. Turvey,Selina Brace,Christopher McCabe,Christopher McCabe,Love Dalén,Emily J. Rayfield,Mark J. F. Brown,Ian Barnes +9 more
TL;DR: The authors' combined morphometric and palaeogenomic analyses provide evidence for multiple co-occurring species and rapid body size evolution in Hispaniolan Nesophontes, in contrast to patterns of genetic and morphometric differentiation seen in Hispaniola’s extant non-volant land mammals.
Madeiran Arabidopsis thaliana Reveals Ancient Long-Range Colonization and Clarifies Demography in Eurasia.
Andrea Fulgione,Maarten Koornneef,Fabrice Roux,Joachim Hermisson,Joachim Hermisson,Angela M. Hancock +5 more
TL;DR: The sequenced genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana samples from the oceanic island of Madeira reveal a selective sweep signature on the ancestral haplotype of a known translocation in Eurasia, as well as the possible importance of the low phosphorous availability in volcanic soils, and altitude, in shaping early adaptations to the island conditions.
Niche shifts after island colonization spurred adaptive diversification and speciation in a cosmopolitan bird clade
TL;DR: Islands have long been recognized as key contributors to biodiversity because they facilitate geographic isolation and ecological divergence from mainland ancestors as discussed by the authors, however, island colonization has proven to be difficult and expensive.
The ghost of connections past: A role for mainland vicariance in the isolation of an insular population of the red‐billed chough (Aves: Corvidae)
TL;DR: Patterns of genetic variation are used to evaluate alternative colonization scenarios of an insular passerine in the Canary Islands to avoid erroneous assumptions regarding colonization history.
Avian research in the Caribbean: past contributions and current priorities
TL;DR: The islands of the Caribbean contain habitat of critical importance to a large number of endemic and resident birds, as well as many overwintering Neotropical migrants, and they rank as a globally outstanding conservation priority ecoregion and biodiversity hotspot.
References
The Theory of Island Biogeography
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
14.1K
•Book
The Theory of Island Biogeography
Robert H. MacArthur,Edward O. Wilson +1 more
- 01 Jan 1967
TL;DR: The Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
12.9K
The Theory of Island Biogeography
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201
9.8K
•Book
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
Charles Darwin
- 03 Sep 2009
TL;DR: The "Penguin Classics" edition of "On the Origin of Species" as discussed by the authors contains an introduction and notes by William Bynum, and features a cover designed by Damien Hirst.
7.8K