Ecological speciation in Darwin's finches: Ghosts of finches future

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Podos, Jeffrey; Schroeder, Katie M.
• 署名单位: University of Massachusetts System; University of Massachusetts Amherst; University of Massachusetts System; University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-12430
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adj4478
• 发表日期: 2024-10-01
• 关键词: species recognition; beak morphology; reproductive isolation; correlated evolution; adaptive radiation; sympatric morphs; vocal evolution; song evolution; body-size; population

摘要

The theory of ecological speciation posits that adaptive divergence among incipient species raises incidental barriers to reproduction, thus catalyzing the emergence of new species. In this study, we conducted an experimental test of this theory in Gal & aacute;pagos finches, a clade in which beaks and mating songs are mechanistically linked. We forecasted the acoustic structure of songs for a set of possible evolutionary futures (successive droughts spurring increasingly large beaks) and, in a field assay, presented resulting song simulations to territorial males. We found that responses to songs dropped off after six simulated drought events, to degrees roughly comparable to drops in response to songs that diverged through cultural drift and acoustic adaptation. Our results support, in Darwin's finches, the feasibility and mechanistic bases of an ecological speciation hypothesis.