Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
Understanding the rate at which new species form is a key question in studying the evolution of life on earth. Here we review our current understanding of speciation rates, focusing on studies based on the fossil record, phylogenies, and mathematical models. We find that speciation rates estimated from these different studies can be dramatically different: some studies find that new species form quickly and often, while others find that new species form much less frequently. We suggest that instead of being contradictory, differences in speciation rates across different scales can be reconciled by a common model. Under the "ephemeral speciation model", speciation is very common and very rapid but the new species produced almost never persist. Evolutionary studies should therefore focus on not only the formation but also the persistence of new species.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3364415 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11692-012-9171-x | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Functional synapses between neurons and small cell lung cancer.
Nature
September 2025
Department of Translational Genomics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive type of lung cancer, characterized by rapid proliferation, early metastatic spread, frequent early relapse and a high mortality rate. Recent evidence has suggested that innervation has an important role in the development and progression of several types of cancer. Cancer-to-neuron synapses have been reported in gliomas, but whether peripheral tumours can form such structures is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDnaA regulates stationary phase-specific expression of a AAA family gene in Caulobacter crescentus.
Genes Genet Syst
September 2025
Department of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyushu University.
In most eubacteria the initiator protein DnaA triggers chromosomal replication by forming an initiation complex at the origin of replication and also functions as a transcriptional regulator, coordinating gene expression with cell cycle progression. While DnaA-regulated genes are relatively well characterized in exponentially growing cells, its role in gene regulation during stationary phase remains insufficiently explored. Here, using an aquatic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus as a model, we show that C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethodology and evaluation of the induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a murine preclinical model of multiple sclerosis.
Methods Cell Biol
September 2025
Instituto de Biomedicina y Genética Molecular de Valladolid (IBGM-CSIC/UVA), Valladolid, Spain. Electronic address:
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that is characterized by a severe and progressive demyelinating process. It is considered a neurodegenerative autoimmune disorder driven by immune cell infiltration, overproduction of cytokines and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation that leads to axonal and neuronal injury. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is the most commonly used pre-clinical model of multiple sclerosis (MS), since it resembles many aspects of the human disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHorizontally transferred NADAR genes contribute to immune defense of ladybird beetles against bacterial infection.
Insect Biochem Mol Biol
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address:
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is now widely recognized as an important mechanism contributing to host immunity and adaptation. Ladybird beetles, with their diverse diets and habitats, encounter a broad spectrum of microbial threats, making effective immune responses critical for their survival. However, the immune roles of HGT-acquired genes in ladybirds remain largely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFShocked quartz at the Younger Dryas onset (12.8 ka) supports cosmic airbursts/impacts contributing to North American megafaunal extinctions and collapse of the Clovis technocomplex.
PLoS One
September 2025
Comet Research Group, Prescott, Arizona, United States of America.
Shocked quartz grains are an accepted indicator of crater-forming cosmic impact events, which also typically produce amorphous silica along the fractures. Furthermore, previous research has shown that shocked quartz can form when nuclear detonations, asteroids, and comets produce near-surface or "touch-down" airbursts. When cosmic airbursts detonate with enough energy and at sufficiently low altitude, the resultant relatively small, high-velocity fragments may strike Earth's surface with high enough pressures to generate thermal and mechanical shock that can fracture quartz grains and introduce molten silica into the fractures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF