Rapid hybrid speciation in Darwin's finches

Abstract

Homoploid hybrid speciation in animals has been inferred frequently from patterns of variation, but few examples have withstood critical scrutiny. Here we report a directly documented example, from its origin to reproductive isolation. An immigrant Darwin's finch to Daphne Major in the Galapagos archipelago initiated a new genetic lineage by breeding with a resident finch (Geospiza fortis). Genome sequencing of the immigrant identified it as a G. conirostris male that originated on Espanola >100 kilometers from Daphne Major. From the second generation onward, the lineage bred endogamously and, despite intense inbreeding, was ecologically successful and showed transgressive segregation of bill morphology. This example shows that reproductive isolation, which typically develops over hundreds of generations, can be established in only three.

Published in

Science
2018, Volume: 359, number: 6372, pages: 224-227 Publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE

SLU Authors

• Andersson, Leif

  • Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Texas A&M University
  • Uppsala University

UKÄ Subject classification

Evolutionary Biology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao4593

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/93461