Conflicting Conclusions on Speciation
Two new research studies arrive at conflicting conclusions on speciation, one on Himalayan songbirds and one on Brazilian ants. The songbird research study was published in the prestigious British journal Nature while the ant research study was published in the American journal Current Biology.
The songbird study was led by Trevor D. Price of the University of Chicago, and the Brazilian ant study was led by Christian Rabeling of the University of Rochester, both highly respected international teams. While the findings in the Himalayan songbird study support Charles Darwin’s speciation theory of geographical isolation, the Brazilian ant’s findings undermine his theory. Speciation, an evolution term intended to explain how new species might have developed from existing species, is in trouble once again.