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On the origin of species by sympatric speciation

Nature volume 400, pages 354–357 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Understanding speciation is a fundamental biological problem. It is believed that many species originated through allopatric divergence, where new species arise from geographically isolated populations of the same ancestral species1,2,3. In contrast, the possibility of sympatric speciation (in which new species arise without geographical isolation) has often been dismissed, partly because of theoretical difficulties2,3. Most previous models analysing sympatric speciation concentrated on particular aspects of the problem while neglecting others4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Here we present a model that integrates a novel combination of different features and show that sympatric speciation is a likely outcome of competition for resources. We use multilocus genetics to describe sexual reproduction in an individual-based model, and we consider the evolution of assortative mating (where individuals mate preferentially with like individuals) depending either on an ecological character affecting resource use or on a selectively neutral marker trait. In both cases, evolution of assortative mating often leads to reproductive isolation between ecologically diverging subpopulations. When assortative mating depends on a marker trait, and is therefore not directly linked to resource competition, speciation occurs when genetic drift breaks the linkage equilibrium between the marker and the ecological trait. Our theory conforms well with mounting empirical evidence for the sympatric origin of many species10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18.

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Figure 1: Convergence to disruptive selection a, Evolutionary branching in the individual-based asexual model: at the branching point x0 = 0, the population splits into two morphs.
Figure 2: Mating probabilities as determined by mating character and difference in ecological or marker character between mates.
Figure 3: Evolutionary branching in sexual populations.
Figure 4: Combinations of standard deviations σK and σC of the resource distribution K(x) and competition function C(x), respectively, that allow for evolutionary branching.
Figure 5: Average waiting times for evolutionary branching with different numbers of loci when assortative mating depends on a marker trait.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Metz, R. Law, M. Heino, S. Stearns, J. Maynard Smith and N. Knowlton for helpful comments, and U. Schliewen, K. Rasmussen and D. Tautz for discussions. The order of authors is alphabetical.

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  1. Adaptive Dynamics Network, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, A-2361, Austria

    Ulf Dieckmann

  2. Zoology Institute, University of Basel, Rheinsprung 9, Basel, CH-4051, Switzerland

    Michael Doebeli

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  1. Ulf Dieckmann
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  2. Michael Doebeli
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Correspondence to Ulf Dieckmann.

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Dieckmann, U., Doebeli, M. On the origin of species by sympatric speciation. Nature 400, 354–357 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/22521

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