During the process of evolution, the formation of new and distinct species is defined as speciation. New species form by two major mechanisms viz sympatric speciation and allopatric speciation. Allopatric speciation is also known as geographical speciation. The difference in environmental factors causes the change in allopatric speciation. In sympatric speciation, the evolution of new species takes place from a single ancestral species. Here we are discussing various differences between allopatric and sympatric speciation.
Also Read: Anagenesis
Difference Between Allopatric And Sympatric Speciation
| Allopatric Speciation | Sympatric Speciation |
| Define | |
| The physical isolation of the population due to the extrinsic barrier is called allopatric speciation | The evolution of new species from one ancestral species living in the same habitat is called sympatric speciation |
| Differentiation mechanism | |
| Natural selection | Polyploidy or changes in feeding pattern, etc. |
| Takes place through geographic isolation | |
| Yes | No |
| Emerging new species speed | |
| Slow | Fast |
| Example | |
| Squirrels in the Grand Canyon, Darwin’s Finches, etc. | Examples include wheat, cultivated corn, tobacco, etc. |
These were some important Difference Between Allopatric And Sympatric Speciation. To learn more about other interesting biology topics, register to BYJU’S – The Learning App. Keep visiting for the latest updates on ‘the difference between articles.
Further Reading:
Speciation and Evolution
Butlin, R. K., Galindo, J. & Grahame, J. W. Sympatric, parapatric or allopatric: The most important way to classify speciation? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 363, 2997–3007 (2008).
Coyne, J. A. & Orr, H. A. Speciation. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2004.
Darwin, C. On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for
Life. London, UK: John Murray, 1859. (link)
Feder, J. L., Chilcote, C. A. & Bush, G. L. Genetic differentiation between sympatric host races of Rhagoletis pomonella. Nature 336, 61–64 (1988).
Funk, D. J. Isolating a role for natural selection in speciation: Host adaptation and sexual isolation in Neochlamisus bebbianae leaf beetles. Evolution 52, 1744–1759 (1998).
Maan, M. E. & Seehausen, O. Mechanisms of species divergence through visual adaptation and sexual selection: Perspectives from a cichlid model system. Current Zoology 56, 285–299 (2010).
Mallet, J. et al. Space, sympatry and speciation. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22, 2332–2341 (2009).
Mani, G. S. & Clarke, B. C. Mutation order — A major stochastic process in evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 240, 29–37 (1990).
Mayr, E. Systematics and the Origin of Species. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1942.
Mayr, E. Animal Species and Evolution. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press, 1963.
Mayr, E. & Provine, W. B. The Evolutionary Synthesis. Harvard, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Niemiller, M. R., Fitzpatrick, B. M. & Miller, B. T. Recent divergence with gene flow in Tennessee cave salamanders (Plethodontidae: Gyrinophilus) inferred from gene genealogies. Molecular Ecology 17, 2258–2275 (2008).
Nosil, P., Crespi, B. J. & Sandoval, C. P. Host-plant adaptation drives the parallel evolution of reproductive isolation. Nature 417, 440–443 (2002).
Nosil, P., Harmon, L. J. & Seehausen, O. Ecological explanations for (incomplete) speciation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 24, 145–156 (2009).
Nosil, P., Funk, D. J. & Ortíz-Barrientos, D. Divergent selection and heterogeneous genomic divergence. Molecular Ecology 18, 375–402 (2009).
Panhuis, T. M. et al. Sexual selection and speciation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 364–371 (2001).
Price, T. D. Speciation in Birds. Woodbury, NY: Roberts and Company, 2007.
Ramsey, J. & Schemske, D. W. Pathways, mechanisms and rates of polyploid formation in flowering plants. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 29, 467–501 (1998).
Ritchie, M. G. Sexual selection and speciation. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 38, 79–102 (2007).
Rundle, H. D. & Nosil, P. Ecological speciation. Ecology Letters 8, 336–352 (2005).
Schluter, D. Ecology and the origin of species. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 372–380 (2001).
Schluter, D. Evidence for ecological speciation and its alternative. Science 323, 737–741 (2009).
Seehausen, O. et al. Speciation through sensory drive in cichlid fish. Nature 455, 620–626 (2008).
Turner, T. L., Hahn, M. W. & Nuzhdin, S. V. Genomic islands of speciation in Anopheles gambiae. PLoS Biology 3, e285 (2005). doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030285
van Doorn, S., Edelaar, P. & Weissing, F. J. On the origin of species by natural and sexual selection. Science 326, 1704–1707 (2009).
Via, S. Sympatric speciation in animals: The ugly duckling grows up. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16, 381–390 (2001).