[Taxacom] Evolutionary misconceptions (mother-daughter pairs)

[Hubert Turner]

On 13/03/2010 04:10, "Curtis Clark" <jcclark-lists at earthlink.net> wrote:


> I think you missed my point. Cladogenesis can only be observed in
> retrospect. That pregnant female was the first member of the new
> species. Unless we accept that Schindewolfian birds from dinosaur eggs
> are the norm, speciation has to happen this way: more or less gradually,
> at the time span of individuals.
> 
> You may ask if I'm saying that speciation happens before there are any
> genetic or phenotypic changes, and I'll respond, yes, absolutely, but
> only in retrospect.
> 
I would say that the pregnant female is born as (and always will be) part of
the 'ancestral' species: she is not part of a new species because she
actually produces progeny with a member of the 'ancestral' one. Her
children, though, are isolated from the 'ancestral' species by lineage
splitting, and are the first elements of the 'new' species.


Hubert Turner
Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis (section NHN),
Leiden University, 
P.O. Box 9514, 
2300 RA Leiden, 
The Netherlands
http://home.casema.nl/arp