(May 24, 2012 at 10:24 am)libalchris Wrote: Ring species are so freakin cool. So many places today we can see the different stages of speciation occuring. It's like the life of a star, we can document the different stages of it by observing different stars in the different stages, even if we can't observe the whole process. With life you can see the very beginning with different sub-species (domestic dogs and wolves), then as separation occurs more and more we see ring species, as apophenia gave examples of, then speciation becomes more definite. The species can make offspring, but the offspring is sterile, as is the case with donkeys and horses. And finally species that are very similar today that interbreed but cannot produce offspring.
One ring to rule them all
Check out my thread Evolution In Action for a few examples of speciation that is taking place over a human lifetime.
