Ecological speciation in sympatric palms: 4. Demographic analyses support speciation of Howea in the face of high gene flow

• DOI: 10.1111/evo.13813
• Publication Date: 2019-07-26T08:49:31Z
• Authors: Alexander S. T. P...; Javier Igea; Thomas P. Smith; Ian Hutton; William J. Baker; Roger K. Butlin; Vincent Savolainen
• Keywords: Genetic algorithm; Ecological speciation

The idea that populations must be geographically isolated (allopatric) to evolve into separate species has persisted for a long time. It is now clear new can also diverge despite ongoing genetic exchange, but few accepted cases of speciation in sympatry have held up when scrutinized using modern approaches. Here, we examined evidence the Howea palms Lord Howe Island, Australia, light genomic data. We used coalescence-based demographic models combined with double digest restriction site associated DNA sequencing multiple individuals and provide support previous claims by Savolainen et al. did occur face gene flow.