Article
Large punctuational contribution of speciation to evolutionary divergence at the molecular level.
Science (New York, N.Y.) - 6 Oct 2006
Pagel Mark, Venditti Chris, Meade Andrew
Abstract excerpt
A long-standing debate in evolutionary biology concerns whether species diverge gradually through time or by punctuational episodes at the time of speciation. We found that approximately 22% of substitutional changes at the DNA level can be attributed to punctuational evolution, and the remainder accumulates from background gradual divergence. Punctuational effects occur at more than twice the rate in plants and...
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