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VI.10
Adaptive Radiation
Peter R. Grant

OUTLINE
GLOSSARY
1. Biodiversity
Allopatry. The occurrence of species that occupy sepa-
2. Origin and development of the concept
rate environments, such as islands.
3. The ecological theory
Competition. The struggle between two or more individ-
4. Speciation
uals or species for a resource in limited supply that
5. Ecological opportunity
they jointly consume (e.g., nutrients for a plant, prey
6. Species interactions
for a predator, or places for prey to avoid being
7. Intrinsic factors: Key innovations
eaten). Competition may take the form of an aggres-
8. Hybridization
sive interaction such as fighting, or differential de-
9. Testing the ideas
pletion of a resource by the competitors.
10. Future prospects
Disparity. The degree of phenotypic difference among
individuals or species in one or more traits.
The world has millions of species, and they display an
Ecomorph. A recognizable association between morphol-
astonishing variety of size, color, and behavior. Adap-
ogy of individuals or species and use of the environ-
tive radiations comprise groups of distinctive yet closely
ment.
related species that have evolved from a common an-
Evolvability. The genetic and developmental properties
cestor in a relatively short time. Studies of these radia-
of members of a species that determine the likeli-
tions help reveal the causes of their evolution. As a result
hood that it will undergo evolutionary change.
of natural selection during and after speciation, descen-
Introgressive Hybridization. The interbreeding of two
dant species differ morphologically or physiologically
species or genetically divergent populations and sub-
in the way they exploit different environments. Adap-
sequent breeding of the offspring with members of
tive differentiation also depends on the absence of con-
one of the parental populations, resulting in the trans-
straints from competitor species. The guiding force of
fer of genes.
natural environments is revealed in the observation
Parapatry. The occurrence of species in adjacent or
that the same evolutionary pathway is often taken by
contiguous distributional ranges.
different organisms in the same environment. Taxonom-
Sympatry. The occurrence of species that occupy the
ic groups vary in their intrinsic potential to diversify
same area.
because they possess traits that are key evolutionary inno-
vations or because they readily exchange genes through
hybridization. Invasion of an underexploited environ-
ment allows species to initially multiply at a high rate,
1. BIODIVERSITY
and diversify morphologically and ecologically. The
fossil record and reconstructions from molecular phylo- For many evolutionary biologists the most important
genies show that both speciation and diversification rates pair of questions that need to be answered are: Why do
later decline. Experiments in the laboratory with bacteria so many species exist on this planet? And why do they
replicate the pattern of diversification through observ- differ so greatly from one another? Species number in the
able time. Bacteria respond to ecological opportunity by millions, varying in size from viruses to whales and from
diversifying into a maximum number of ecologically algae to trees; varying in color from bright butterflies to
differentiated types. dull and cryptic moths; varying in behavior from solitary
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560 Speciation and Macroevolution

polar bears to highly social honey bees; and varying in adjective is applied because the products of a radiation
numerous other ways in exploiting the environment for are conjectured or known to be adapted to exploiting the
food, avoiding their enemies, and reproducing. How is environment in different ways.
all this variation to be explained? In the last 20 or 30 years the range of extant organ-
Adaptive radiations provide rich material for seeking isms that have been studied in detail has increased dra-
answers to these questions because they comprise groups matically, owing largely to the availability of molecular
of distinctive yet closely related species. An adaptive ra- phylogenies for inferring relatedness among species and
diation is the product of differentiation of an ancestral the pattern and rates of diversification. With these stud-
species into an array of descendant species that differ in ies has come increasing scrutiny of the term itself, and
the way they exploit the environment. When the differ- debate on definitions. Should an unusually high rate of
entiation has proceeded rapidly, the evolutionary tran- diversification be an essential ingredient of the defini-
sitions from one state to another can readily be char- tion? How is an adaptive radiation to be distinguished
acterized and strongly interpreted. from a nonadaptive radiation? These questions become
Angiosperm plants, dinosaurs, and marsupial mam- important in comparative studies when generalizations
mals are typical examples at high taxonomic levels. are sought across a broad taxonomic range of organ-
Typical examples at lower levels are Darwin’s finches on isms. There are no simple answers because there is no
the Galápagos Islands, honeycreeper finches, Drosoph- clear line of demarcation or break point between adap-
ila, spiders, the silversword alliance of plants in the tive radiations—defined by numbers of species, variety
Hawaiian archipelago, cichlid fish in the Great Lakes of or rates of diversification—and all others. As used in this
Africa, and Anolis lizards in the Caribbean. These ex- chapter the term adaptive radiation is most usefully
amples have the following in common: (1) they comprise applied to those groups that have diversified rapidly and
several to many species, (2) the species vary morphol- interpretably, such as the ones cited earlier.
ogically in conspicuous ways, and relatedly, (3) they oc-
cupy a diversity of ecological niches. Most of the species
3. THE ECOLOGICAL THEORY
were (4) derived from a single ancestor in their current
environment, and (5) most diverged relatively rapidly. By placing the occurrence of fossils within a time frame,
Cichlid fish in Lake Malawi are an outstanding example. paleontologists like Simpson were able to detect a pat-
Hundreds of species—the exact number is unknown— tern in the history of a radiation. A radiation was seen to
were derived from one or a few common ancestors in the begin with rapid multiplication of species as well as di-
last 2 million years, and they have diversified into many versification of morphological types. As the radiation
trophic forms, including algae-, insect-, snail-, and fish- proceeded, both species proliferation and morpholog-
eating specialists. Their mouth and teeth morphologies ical evolution slowed down. The observed pattern gave
reflect their diets, and for this reason the variation is in- rise to an inferred process, as follows. Invasion of an
ferred to be adaptive, that is to say, the product of diverse underexploited environment allowed species to multiply
natural selection. One group alone, the rock-dwelling at a high rate. At the same time they diversified pheno-
“Mbuna” of the genus Tropheops, comprises 230 spe- typically and ecologically. Eventually, both speciation
cies. Ole Seehausen has calculated that one new species and diversification rates declined as competition in-
arose every 46 years! creased for a diminishing variety of unexploited or un-
derexploited resources. This is an explicitly ecological
interpretation. On one occasion Simpson used T. H.
2. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT
Huxley’s phrase “filling the ecological barrel” to capture
The term adaptive radiation was coined in 1902 by the essence of a limited environment. The greatest op-
a paleontologist, H. F. Osborn, and the phenomenon it portunity for occupancy occurs at the beginning, when
refers to was popularized by another, G. G. Simpson, the barrel is empty, and by implication there is an in-
about 50 years later. Simpson viewed the evolutionary creasing difficulty for newcomers to fit as the barrel fills.
radiation of a major group of animals, such as marsupial Dolph Schluter converted a coherent explanation
mammals, as various lines of descent from a common into a theory by identifying all the elements and framing
ancestor arising more or less simultaneously and diverg- them as hypotheses to be tested by their predictions. The
ing in different morphological and ecological directions, key elements of the theory are (1) phenotypic differ-
rather like spokes radiating from the hub of a wheel. This entiation caused by natural selection arising from dif-
image is powerful yet fails to represent the correct evo- ferences among environments, (2) competition for re-
lutionary pathway of bifurcating branches in a treelike sources, and (3) speciation governed by both processes.
structure. Nonetheless, the term has stuck. The adaptive The theory is not one to be rejected by the first contrary
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Adaptive Radiation 561

observation so much as an organizational framework for environments, but this is not always observed. For ex-
investigating causes in individual cases. This framework ample, relatively homogeneous lakes contain a very high
has stimulated a large amount of quantitative analysis of diversity of fish species. In the case of African Great Lake
large data sets: literally hundreds of species in the case of cichlids, their diversity traces back to one or a very few
cichlid fish. colonizing species, so they must have evolved in broad-
A few words are warranted here about the domain of scale geographic sympatry within the lake, though pos-
applicability of the theory. Some groups diversify with- sibly in local parapatry or allopatry. Just how a popu-
out radiating. For example, Plethodon salamanders in lation splits into two under these circumstances is not
eastern North America diversified rapidly early in their clear. The question is, How does reproductive isolation
history, and more slowly later, as in classical adaptive evolve through disruptive selection in the face of gene
radiations, but speciation was largely allopatric, result- flow counteracting divergence? (See chapter VI.6.) A
ing in little morphological diversity and, as far as is solution in plants but rare in animals is polyploidy: au-
known, relatively little adaptation. The 46 extant species topolyploidy through chromosomal doubling, or allo-
owe their existence to few niches but many habitat frag- polyploidy through hybridization.
ments and a long history, and not, with some notable Speciation and adaptive radiation should not be
exceptions, to competitive interactions. Similarly, spe- equated. Adaptive radiation usually implies speci-
ciation may occur repeatedly through diversification of ation, whereas speciation implies neither adaptation
mating signals by sexual selection, such as the color of nor a radiation.
cichlid fish or petals of flowers (e.g., Mimulus), vocali-
zations of birds, pheromones of moths, and the strid-
5. ECOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITY
ulation of crickets and leafhoppers. In these and sug-
gested examples of diversification through random drift Adaptive differentiation depends on both the availabil-
or founder effects it is difficult to rule out the role of ity of ecological resources (niches) to sustain a variety of
ecological factors in speciation, and for this reason the organisms, and properties of the organisms that facil-
distinction between adaptive and nonadaptive causes of itate their evolution. Adaptive landscapes provide a way
species proliferation is sometimes blurred. Instead, non- of visualizing opportunities for diversification provided
adaptive processes are likely to contribute to an adaptive by the environment. The adaptive landscape is an ab-
radiation, being complementary rather than a strict al- straction first developed by Sewall Wright in 1932 to
ternative to adaptation. This means that a particular explore possibilities and limits to change of genotype
radiation may have heterogeneous causes: adaptive and frequencies in a population. Transformed for more gen-
nonadaptive processes, natural selection and sexual se- eral usage by Simpson and others, an adaptive landscape
lection, competition and predation, and so forth. represents variation in fitness in relation to combina-
tions of traits or environmental conditions (figure 1).
There are hills and valleys in the landscape. Fitness is at a
4. SPECIATION
maximum when a population occupies the top of a hill,
In an adaptive radiation one species gives rise to many. be it flat or peaked. Each hill can be equated with eco-
Derived species either do not interbreed or interbreed logical opportunity. The spatial distribution of hills re-
with a limited degree of genetic exchange (see chapter flects another property of environments: some are closer
VI.1). It is easy to envisage how reproductive isolation and more within reach of evolving organisms than oth-
could arise in an archipelago where populations are iso- ers, and proximity governs the sequence in which hills
lated by physical barriers and undergo independent evo- can be climbed through the action of natural selection.
lution: they adapt to different environments. Divergence Neither the environment nor the landscape it represents
of the signaling and response system deployed in mate should be thought of as static. Over time, hills gain
choice occurs as a correlated effect of adaptive diver- or lose height, become more or less peaked, and move
gence. A sympatric phase of the speciation process then closer together or farther apart.
follows the allopatric phase, when a derived species dis- The guiding force of natural environments is revealed
perses into the environment of another. Coexistence in by such observations as the same evolutionary path-
the same habitat, as described by the term sympatry, way being taken by different organisms in the same en-
depends on ecological and reproductive differences hav- vironment. For example, flowering plants from a diverse
ing arisen largely or completely in allopatry. array of families have invaded freshwater from the land
If this were a universal route to species multiplication, at least 50 times, with repeated evolution of floating,
those environments without physical barriers should bladderlike structures in the leaves. Dioecy, the pres-
have fewer species, area for area, than fragmented ence of two separate sexes in a population, has evolved
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562 Speciation and Macroevolution

mammals: browsing, burrowing, and gliding habits and
associated morphological adaptations evolved indepen-
dently in the two groups, on separate continents. Parallel
radiation within two continents yielded convergence
between them. This is strong indirect evidence for the
driving force of environmental factors in adaptive
radiations.

6. SPECIES INTERACTIONS
Pre

An important factor in rapid diversification in a new

y siz

environment is the absence of competitors—typically,

e

related species. In fact, when the concept of adaptive

size radiation was first developed, the absence of competitors
Body
was emphasized as a key facilitating or predisposing
Figure 1. The adaptive landscape. Mean fitness for a phenotype with
factor. For example, islands were viewed as empty en-
a given combination of body size and prey size is indicated by the vironments when the first colonists arrived, and diver-
height of the surface. Arrows indicate paths of steepest fitness sification proceeded until all ecological niches were filled,
ascent for three populations in the vicinity of three peaks. (From one species per niche. The Gaussian principle that no two
Schluter 2000.) species can occupy the same ecological niche is, in mod-
ern language, no two species can occupy the same adap-
tive peak, for reasons of competitive inequality. There-
repeatedly in different lineages of plants colonizing fore, if all peaks in a landscape are occupied, there is no
the Hawaiian archipelago. Algal-scraping, mollusk- ecological opportunity for a radiation to occur, or if one
crushing, fish-scale-scraping cichlid fish and other eco- has begun, there is no opportunity for it to continue.
morphs seen in Lake Malawi are also seen in Lakes The objective reality of adaptive peaks can be demon-
Victoria and Tanganyika, even though their origins dif- strated only with environmental data. For granivorous
fer and their evolution has been independent. Thus or- Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos the peaks have been
ganisms diversify in response to ecological opportu- quantified on several islands by measuring food supply,
nities. Hand in hand with the opportunity is a challenge and fitness has been estimated for each island with a
from the environment in many cases. For example, given seed size profile by measuring population sizes in
coping with ultraviolet radiation and predation from relation to beak sizes. The adaptive landscape for these
fish and invertebrates is a challenge faced by planktonic finches is rugged, not smooth. In agreement with expec-
Daphnia in the upper waters of lakes. The repeated re- tation, only one species is ever associated with one peak.
sponse of different Daphnia lineages has been the evo- Interestingly, different species are sometimes associated
lution of melanism in the face of the first challenge, and with the same peak on different islands: they are inter-
head shields and spines when confronted by the second. changeable, although ecologically incompatible.
Evolution in similar environments is thus predictable Competitive interactions between species lead either
to a degree, because ecological opportunities are simi- to the exclusion of one species by another or to evolution-
lar. An example is provided by the adaptive radiation of ary adjustments to each other. Competitive displacement
Caribbean Anolis lizards. Their history has been re- in food-related body size and shape among sticklebacks
constructed from a molecular phylogeny. It shows that has been demonstrated experimentally under controlled
the four largest islands of the Greater Antilles (Cuba, conditions in ponds. Limnetic species are smaller and
Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico) were colonized by more slender than benthic species. A solitary species in-
different species, which then underwent parallel evolu- termediate in size and shape between them suffered
tionary diversification into the same ecotypes occupying slower growth in the experimental presence of a limnetic
the same spatial niches (ground, tree trunk, branches, and species, and as a result, their average body sizes diverged.
twigs). Subsequent evolutionary diversification on a given Under natural conditions character displacement has
island took the form of variation on these four themes. been observed in Darwin’s finches. During a drought large
Evolutionary history repeats itself at the higher tax- members of the medium ground finch population died at
onomic levels, too. As pointed out many years ago by a disproportionately high rate. They were outcompeted
Osborn, the marsupial radiation led to convergence in by a larger, more efficient species, the large ground finch,
many phenotypic and ecological traits with eutherian when feeding on a diminishing supply of large and hard
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Adaptive Radiation 563

seeds; as a result, the average beak size of the medium innovation that apparently facilitated invasion of Ant-
ground finch population decreased. Beak size is heritable; arctic waters and subsequent diversification in a rela-
therefore, the change produced by natural selection gave tively empty environment. Detailed comparative work is
rise to evolution: average beak size remained low in the needed to determine whether a key innovation resulted
generations produced in the following six years. in an enhanced diversification rate. For example, nectar
spurs in columbines (Aquilegia) vary in shape and color,
which affect reproductive isolation by attracting differ-
7. INTRINSIC FACTORS: KEY INNOVATIONS
ent pollinators, and apparently facilitated speciation,
Ecological opportunity is one side of a coin; organism because there are more species in clades with than with-
responsiveness or intrinsic evolvability is the other. The out spurs. The evolutionary invention of resin canals by
importance of intrinsic factors is hinted at by differ- some plants, constituting a defense against chewing in-
ences among taxonomic groups in how far and how fast sects, is another example.
they radiate. For example, speciation in lacustrine fish
appears to be faster than speciation in terrestrial birds
8. HYBRIDIZATION
and arthropods; time required for speciation has been
estimated to be 15,000 to 300,000 years for fish, and One possible potentiating factor is introgressive hybrid-
half a million to1 million years for birds and arthro- ization. An exchange of genes can result in enhanced ge-
pods on islands. These values are calculated from sim- netic variation and evolutionary potential, and under the
ply knowing the number of existing species and then right ecological circumstances it can lead to the formation
estimating time since they were derived from a common of a new species (see chapter VI.6). The work of Loren
ancestor. Rieseberg on sunflowers (Helianthus) and Tom Whitham
Diversification of cichlid fish has been rampant, but on poplars (Populus) in western North America, and sev-
most of the other fish taxa in apparently similar circum- eral others elsewhere, has shown that introgression of
stances in African lakes have failed to diversify beyond a certain genes is selective according to the nature of the
few species. Since different environmental factors are not environment (soil, microclimate, herbivores, etc.). Popu-
clearly implicated, the contrast suggests there are some lations of sunflower hybrids in peripheral and ecologically
intrinsic genetic, developmental, or physiological factors extreme environments undergo large-scale genome re-
that differ among the groups. Intrinsic factors may po- organization, leading to reproductive isolation from the
tentiate evolutionary change, or they may constrain it. All parental populations. These findings have a bearing on the
that is known is that the radiating groups of these fish early stages of major radiations on the assumption that
cluster together in the grand African phylogeny, implying what we observe now reveals what happened in the past at
a common inheritance of one or more predisposing fac- the beginning of those radiations. For example, intro-
tors for radiating. In general, these factors are poorly gressive hybridization is widespread in many young ra-
known, if at all. Identifying them is an important chal- diations, including the silverswords of Hawaii, Darwin’s
lenge for future studies of adaptive radiations. finches of the Galápagos, African cichlids, and Heliconius
The most striking evidence of intrinsic potential is butterflies in South and Central America, but is almost
correlative and therefore indirect: it is the association absent in older radiations such as Hawaiian honeycreeper
between the evolution of a novel trait and a large num- finches and Caribbean Anolis lizards.
ber of related species that share the trait. The trait is de- Seehausen has suggested that gene mixing through
scribed as a key evolutionary innovation, facilitating a hybridization does more than accompany a radiation: it
novel and diverse way of exploiting the environment (see creates a hybrid swarm and thereby facilitates a radia-
chapter VI.15). Prominent among such novel traits are tion. The evidence of ancient hybridization is a mis-
the pharyngeal jaws of cichlid fish. These are plates with match between phylogenetic reconstructions of the same
toothlike projections in the roof of the mouth that enable organisms based on nuclear and cytoplasmic genes. For
their possessors to split the functions of procuring and example, the cichlids of Lake Victoria, with a history
processing food into oral and pharyngeal regions of the of 15,000 years, are far younger than the fish in Lake
mouth. Fish with pharyngeal jaws have diversified greatly Malawi and correspondingly have much lower mito-
in oral jaws and associated diets, as different as grazing chondrial gene diversity, yet they have the same level of
algae and catching other fish. However, pharyngeal jaws nuclear diversity as their Lake Malawi counterparts.
are not sufficient to explain cichlid radiation, because Similar evidence of incongruence between nuclear and
groups that have not radiated also possess them. chloroplast genes is found in one lineage of Hawaiian
The evolution of antifreeze glycoproteins by fish in silverswords. The pattern is even repeated in human
the suborder Notothenioidei is another example of a key history. More modern studies of hybridization like the
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564 Speciation and Macroevolution

sunflower research are needed to further explore these receiving much attention—reflect approximately con-
ideas on diversity generation. stant but different speciation and extinction rates, or
hidden pulses of each, occurring either synchronously or
asynchronously. Agamid lizards in Australia, warblers
9. TESTING THE IDEAS
and Lampropeltine snakes in North America, and py-
Many adaptive radiations happened over millions of thons in the Australo-Papuan region all declined in rate of
years. Their study is therefore retrospective, and inter- diversification. The data fit models with varying specia-
pretations are necessarily inferences that to be plausible, tion rate better than models with varying extinction rate.
should be consistent with known biological processes. Conversely, in the most comprehensive analysis to date of
How can the interpretations be tested? For example, in many radiations, Jonathan Losos and colleagues found
the absence of fossils, how can we tell whether extinction that most of the groups they studied did not fit the early
has been important or trivial? An indirect method (see burst pattern. One of several possible reasons is that the
the following section) is to devise alternative models and broad aspects of the environment do not remain con-
to use statistical analyses of data to see which model fits stant, contrary to assumption. For example, Darwin’s
the data best. Taxa comprising large numbers of species finch species increased in parallel with an increase in the
are necessary for this method to be effective, and well- number of islands of the Galápagos archipelago. In this
resolved molecular phylogenies are desirable. And as case, diversification was facilitated, if not actually driven,
described later, direct tests can be performed experimen- by expanding spatial and temporal ecological opportu-
tally with microorganisms in the laboratory. nities. Seehausen found a different pattern of diversifi-
cation in a changing environment. Species diversity of the
rapidly evolving cichlid fish in Africa increased in pulses
Timing of Speciation and Diversification
interspersed with periods of relative stasis, as might be
The first major pattern of adaptive radiation is an in- expected if the environment is occasionally perturbed in
crease in number of species or higher taxa, at a dimin- some significant way. Thus speciation and extinction
ishing rate. The second major pattern is an increase in may not vary in a coordinated manner through time;
phenotypic disparity, that is, an increase in morpholog- either or both may change systematically or erratically.
ical differences among the species. With ecological opportunity being maximal at the
The fossil record shows a pattern of high extinction beginning of a radiation, initially high rates of pheno-
rates at times of geophysical perturbation, followed by typic diversification are expected, which then decrease
speciation that is initially rapid and subsequently slower as the environment becomes progressively filled with
(see chapter VI.13). Fossils are missing for most living a large number of ecologically diverse exploiters. This
taxa; therefore, molecular phylogenies have been used in expectation has been tested with the large number of
their place to see whether the “early burst” phenomenon species that make up the Caribbean Anolis faunas. The
with subsequent decline is a consistent element of adap- expectation was met: rates of diversification of two
tive radiations. A phylogeny describes how the number ecologically important traits, body size and limb length,
of species at any one time has increased from the starting decreased with increasing radiation, and decreased as
point. Accumulation of species on the y-axis is plotted the number of inferred potential competitors increased.
against time on the x-axis to give a lineage-through-time These results matched paleontological evidence over
plot. Since the same pattern of accumulation of species larger time spans and taxonomic categories: morpho-
diversity can result from a declining speciation rate, as logical disparity increased among hard-bodied in-
expected, or an increasing extinction rate, it is necessary vertebrates in the so-called Cambrian explosion and in
to decompose diversity into its speciation and extinc- certain groups of organisms following the end-Permian
tion components, via mathematical models. For exam- and end-Cretaceous mass extinctions.
ple, Daniel Rabosky and Richard Glor constructed 12 To what extent are speciation and morphological
different ways in which species multiplication might be change coupled? This question is difficult to answer.
expected to occur as continuous processes of birth (spe- Branching points in a phylogeny can be estimated, but
ciation) and death (extinction). Using a molecular phy- morphological (and ecological) change independent of
logeny of Caribbean Anolis lizards to reconstruct the speciation can be dated only with fossils, and then with
pattern of diversification, they found that one model difficulty. Morphological change is likely to accompany
outperformed others in fitting the data. In this model, speciation (cladogenesis) and be a vital part of it, but
speciation rates declined toward a presumed equilib- change may nonetheless continue without further spe-
rium on three out of four islands. ciation (anagenesis). Anagenesis may have contributed
However, it is still not known whether the major ra- to diversification of Lampropeltine snakes in North
diations of the last few million years—which currently are America because morphological disparity increased prior
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distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical
means without prior written permission of the publisher.

Adaptive Radiation 565

to the Pliocene, close to the time when rates of speciation balance in Caribbean birds. It opened up new niches in the
decreased. Selective extinction through competitive inter- Galápagos, and Darwin’s finches responded by evolving
actions is another process that leads to the same enhance- seed-eating specialists.
ment of morphological disparity.
10. FUTURE PROSPECTS
Experimental Adaptive Radiations
The study of adaptive radiations is becoming increasingly
Some of the problems involved in inferring history can quantitative, experimental, and comparative. The goal is
be circumvented with studies of living organisms. Direct to understand (1) general properties and (2) differences,
tests of radiation theory can be performed experimentally according to time of occurrence, taxonomic group, and
with microorganisms in the laboratory; bacteria have particular environment. Greater understanding of the
the enormous advantage of short generations and rapid causes of diverse adaptive radiations will come from a
evolution. Introduced to a plate of agar, an inoculum of variety of sources. One is the discovery of new systems.
the asexual bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens diver- Vertebrates and some plant groups have dominated in-
sifies into three main morphological types. Diversification vestigations of extant groups so far, although the recent
in a microcosm is an analogue of the radiations of sexually exploitation of microcosms for experimental investi-
reproducing organisms into many species over millennia gation has revealed an enormous potential residing in
or more. For example, in the longest-running experiment microorganisms. Additional experimental potential at
performed so far, genetic changes affecting metabolism of the level of ecological communities has scarcely been
Escherichia coli have been investigated for more than tapped. A second source is genetics—specifically, gene
50,000 generations. Another advantage of microbes is expression of ecologically important traits during de-
they can be stored in the freezer, then taken out years later velopment—for an understanding of comparative evolv-
to compare their performance with that of the descen- ability in different lineages. A third is speciation, in-
dants of the parent population to test the hypothesis that trogressive hybridization, and the interrelationship of
competitive ability evolves. It does. the two. Experimental investigations have a larger role
The Pseudomonas fluorescens experiment shows a to play in both revealing and testing the causal factors
repeated pattern of evolutionary diversification into three that observations imply. And inferences about how
main ecotypes recognized by their distinctive morphol- radiations unfold will improve as analytical methods are
ogy. A colonizing type (“smooth”) gives rise to two more: refined. Eventually, the knowledge obtained from
a biofilm-producing “wrinkly spreader” and a “fuzzy studying adaptive radiations will be integrated with what
spreader.” They are specialized on different parts of their will be learned from all the rest of evolution, environ-
environment (spatial niches). Through repeated mutation ments, and earth history, to provide a more compre-
they give rise to (asexual) clones that are morphological hensive understanding of the richness of the biological
and metabolic variations on these three main themes. The world.
experiments show that the variants within a spatial niche
compete for resources and replace one another. The num-
ber of morphologically distinct clones (richness) reaches a FURTHER READING
peak through time and then declines, thus overshooting
Gavrilets, S., and J. B. Losos. 2009. Adaptive radiation: Con-
the long-term carrying capacity of the environment.
trasting theory with data. Science 323: 732–737. Illustrates
The range of morphological variation—the disparity— the interplay of theoretical and empirical studies in the
shows a different pattern: it rises to a maximum and re- development of understanding how adaptive radiations
mains there. Thus the bacteria, in the absence of preda- proceed.
tion and competitor species, respond to ecological op- Gavrilets, S. A., and A. Vose. 2005. Dynamic patterns of
portunity by diversifying into a maximum of ecologically adaptive radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy
differentiated types. What happens then depends on the of Sciences USA 102: 18040–18045. A theoretical analysis
environment. Either it remains fixed, as imposed by the of adaptive radiation.
investigators, or changes with concomitant changes in Givnish, T. J., and K. J. Sytsma, eds. 1997. Molecular Evo-
the community. Little is known in the laboratory or na- lution and Adaptive Radiation. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Many chapters provide a molecular ge-
ture about how a gradually changing environment affects
netic basis for reconstructing phylogenies and using them
the course of an adaptive radiation, or how adaptive ra- for describing and interpreting patterns of adaptive
diation of one group facilitates further radiation through radiation.
positive feedback from other organisms with which it in- Grant, P. R., and B. R. Grant. 2008. How and Why Species
teracts (e.g., mutualisms). An increase in aridity in the last Multiply: The Radiation of Darwin’s Finches. Princeton,
couple of million years altered the speciation-extinction NJ: Princeton University Press. Darwin’s finches are used
 © Copyright, Princeton University Press. No part of this book may be
distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical
means without prior written permission of the publisher.

566 Speciation and Macroevolution

as a model system for understanding how species form in 107: 22178–22183. A comprehensive modeling approach
adaptive radiations. to questions of how adaptive radiations increase in size
Losos, J. B. 2009. Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree. Berkeley: and complexity through time.
University of California Press. An exceptionally compre- Seehausen, O. 2006. African cichlid fish: A model system in
hensive account of one of the most impressive and diverse adaptive radiation research. Proceedings of the Royal
adaptive radiations. Society B 273: 1987–1998. A good overview of the most
Meyer, J. R., S. E. Schoustra, J. Lachapelle, and R. Kassen. 2011. diverse and rapid radiation known.
Overshooting dynamics in a model adaptive radiation. Pro- Schluter, D. 2000. The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation. Ox-
ceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 392–398. A good ex- ford: Oxford University Press. The standard modern work
ample of the power of experimental microcosms for testing on adaptive radiation.
in the laboratory ideas generated by observations in nature. Simpson, G. G. 1953. The Major Features of Evolution. New
Rabosky, D. L., and R. E. Glor 2010. Equilibrium speciation York: Columbia University Press. A general discussion of
dynamics in a model adaptive radiation of island lizards. evolutionary radiations that integrates population genet-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA ics with paleontology.