A Simulation Study of the Ecological Speciation Conditions in the Galician Marine Snail Littorina saxatilis.

ABSTRACT: In the last years, the interest in evolutionary divergence at small spatial scales has increased and so did the study of speciation caused by ecologically based divergent natural selection. The evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation can lead to low-dispersal locally adapted specialists. When this occurs, the evolutionary interplay between gene flow and local adaptation could eventually lead to speciation. The L. saxatilis system consists of two ecotypes displaying a microhabitat-associated intraspecific dimorphism along the wave-exposed rocky shores of Galicia. Despite being a well-known system, the dynamics of the ecotype formation remain unclear and cannot be studied from empirical evidence alone. In this study, individual-based simulations were used to inco

SUBMITTER: Fernandez-Meirama M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9037070 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature