Speciation genetics: search for the missing snowball

Curr Biol. 2010 Dec 21;20(24):R1073-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.10.056.

Abstract

Theory predicts that, as species diverge from one another, the number of genetic incompatibilities causing sterility or inviability in interspecies hybrids grows faster than linearly, or snowballs. Two new genetic analyses now provide the first empirical support for this snowball effect.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution*
  • Genetic Speciation*
  • Models, Genetic*
  • Species Specificity