Phylogenies reveal new interpretation of speciation and the Red Queen

Venditti, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6776-2355, Meade, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7095-7711 and Pagel, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7287-8865 (2010) Phylogenies reveal new interpretation of speciation and the Red Queen. Nature, 463 (7379). pp. 349-352. ISSN 0028-0836 doi: 10.1038/nature08630

Abstract/Summary

The Red Queen metaphor has species accumulating small changes to keep up with a continually changing environment, with speciation occurring at a constant rate. This constant-rate claim is now tested against four competing models, using 101 phylogenies of animal, plant and fungal taxa. The results provide a new interpretation of the Red Queen; a view linking speciation to rare stochastic events that cause reproductive isolation.