Laboratory experiments of speciation


Laboratory experiments of speciation have been conducted for all four modes of speciation: allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, and sympatric; and various other processes involving speciation: hybridization, reinforcement, founder effects, among others. Most of the experiments have been done on flies, in particular Drosophila fruit flies. However, more recent studies have tested yeasts, fungi, and even viruses.
It has been suggested that laboratory experiments are not conducive to vicariant speciation events due to their small population sizes and limited generations. Most estimates from studies of nature indicate that speciation takes hundreds of thousands to millions of years. On the other hand, many species are thought to have speciated faster and more recently, such as the European flounders that spawn in pelagic and demersal zones—having allopatrically speciated in under 3000 generations.

Table of experiments

Six publications have attempted to compile, review, and analyze the experimental research on speciation: John Ringo, David Wood, Robert Rockwell, and Harold Dowse in 1985; William R. Rice and Ellen E. Hostert in 1993; Ann-Britt Florin and Anders Ödeen in 2002; Mark Kirkpatrick and Virginie Ravigné in 2002; Jerry A. Coyne and H. Allen Orr in 2004; and James D. Fry in 2009. The table summarizes the studies and data reviewed in these publications. It also references several contemporary experiments and is non-exhaustive.
In the table, multiple numbers separated by semi-colons in the generations column indicate that multiple experiments were conducted. The replications indicates the number of populations used in the experiments—i.e. how many times the experiment was replicated. Various types of selection have been imposed on experimental populations and are indicated by the selection type column. Negative or positive results of each experiment are provided by the reproductive isolation column. Pre-zygotic reproductive isolation means that the reproducing individuals in the populations were unable to produce offspring. Post-zygotic isolation means that the reproducing individuals were able to produce offspring but they were either sterile or inviable. Negative results are indicated by "none"—that is, the experiments did not result in reproductive isolation.
SpeciesTraitGenerations TestedSelection typeStudied genetic driftReproductive isolationReferenceYear
Drosophila melanogasterEscape response18Vicariant, reinforcement, parapatric/
sympatric		Indirect; divergentYesPre-zygoticGrant & Mettler1969
D. melanogasterLocomotion112VicariantIndirect; divergentNoPre-zygoticBurnet & Connolly1974
D. melanogasterTemperature, humidity70–130VicariantIndirect; divergentYesPre-zygoticKilias et al.1980
D. melanogasterDDT adaptation600 VicariantDirectNoPre-zygoticBoake et al.2003
D. melanogaster17, 9, 9, 1, 1, 7, 7, 7, 7Vicariant; parapatric/
sympatric		Direct, divergentPre-zygotic in vicariance; none with gene flowBarker & Karlsson1974
D. melanogaster40; 50ReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticCrossley1974
D. melanogasterLocomotion45VicariantDirect; divergentNo-van Dijken & Scharloo1979
D. melanogasterReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticWallace1953
D. melanogaster36; 31ReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticKnight1956
D. melanogasterEDTA adaptation25, 25, 25, 14Semi-allopatric, reinforcementIndirect; divergentNoPost-zygoticRobertson1966
D. melanogaster25 Vicariant; reinforcement; parapatric; sympatricDirect-Hostert1997
D. melanogasterAbdominal chaeta
number		21–31VicariantDirectYes-Santibanez & Waddington1958
D. melanogasterSternopleural chaeta number32Vicariant, reinforcement, parapatric/
sympatric		DirectNo-Barker & Cummins1969
D. melanogasterPhototaxis, geotaxis20VicariantNo-Markow1975; 1981
D. melanogasterPeripatricYesRundle et al.1998
D. melanogasterVicariant; peripatricYesMooers et al.1999
D. melanogaster12ReinforcementDivergentPre-zygoticThoday & Gibson1962
D. melanogaster-Thoday & Gibson1970; 1971
D. melanogaster16ReinforcementIndirect-Spiess & Wilke1954
D. melanogasterReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticEhrman1971; 1973; 1979; 1983
D. melanogasterSternopleural chaeta number5; 27; 27; 1; 1; 1; 1; 1Parapatric/
sympatric		-Chabora1968
D. melanogaster-Scharloo1967
D. melanogaster1, 1Coyne & Grant1972
D. melanogaster25Rice1985
D. melanogaster25DisruptivePre-zygoticRice & Salt1988
D. melanogaster35; 35SympatricPre-zygoticRice & Salt1990
D. melanogasterNaCl and CuSO4 levels in foodAllopatric; reinforcement; sympatricPre-zygotic in allopatry, none in sympatryWallace1982
D. melanogasterReinforcementEhrman et al.1991
D. melanogasterReinforcementFukatami & Moriwaki1970
Drosophila simulansScutellar bristles, development speed, wing width; desiccation resistance, fecundity, ethanol resistance; courtship display, re-mating speed, lek behavior; pupation height, clumped egg laying, general activityVicariant; peripatricYesPost-zygoticRingo et al.1985
Drosophila paulistorum131; 131ReinforcementDirectPre-zygoticDobzhansky et al.1976
D. paulistorumVicariantDobzhansky and Pavlovsky1966
Drosophila willistonipH adaptation34–122VicariantIndirect; divergentNoPre-zygoticKalisz & Cordeiro1980
Drosophila pseudoobscuraCarbohydrate source12VicariantIndirectYesPre-zygoticDodd1989
D. pseudoobscuraTemperature adaptation25–60VicariantDirectEhrman1964;
1969
D. pseudoobscuraPhototaxis, geotaxis5–11VicariantIndirectNoPre-zygoticdel Solar1966
D. pseudoobscuraVicariant; peripatricPre-zygoticPowell1978; 1985
D. pseudoobscuraPeripatric; vicariantYesGaliana et al.1993
D. pseudoobscuraTemperature photoperiod; food37 VicariantDivergentYes-Rundle2003
D. pseudoobscura &
Drosophila persimilis		22; 16; 9ReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticKoopman1950
D. pseudoobscura &
D. persimilis		18 DirectPre-zygoticKessler1966
Drosophila mojavensis12DirectPre-zygoticKoepfer1987
D. mojavensisDevelopment time13DivergentYes-Etges1998
Drosophila adiastolaPeripatricYesPre-zygoticArita & Kaneshiro1974
Drosophila silvestrisPeripatricYesAhearn1980
Musca domesticaGeotaxis38VicariantIndirectNoPre-zygoticSoans et al.1974
M. domesticaGeotaxis16VicariantDirect; divergentNoPre-zygoticHurd & Eisenburg1975
M. domesticaPeripatricYesMeffert & Bryant1991
M. domesticaRegan et al.2003
Bactrocera cucurbitaeDevelopment time40–51DivergentYesPre-zygoticMiyatake & Shimizu1999
Zea mays6; 6ReinforcementDirect; divergentPre-zygoticPaterniani1969
Drosophila grimshawiPeripatricJones, Widemo, & ArrendalN/A
Saccharomyces cerevisiaeLeu & Murry2006
D. melanogasterReinforcementHarper & Lambert1983
Tribolium castaneumPupal weight15 DisruptiveHalliburton & Gall1983
D. melanogasterGeotaxisDivergentLofdahl et al.1992
D. pseudoobscuraMoya et al.1995
NeurosporaDivergentDettman et al.2008
S. cerevisiae500DivergentDettman et al.2007
Sepsis cynipsea35Martin & Hosken2003
D. melanogasterWigby & Chapman2006
D. pseudoobscuraSexual conflict48–52 Bacigalupe et al.2007
D. serrataRundle et al.2005
Drosophila serrata & D. birchiiMate recognition9 ReinforcementNaturalPre-zygoticHiggie et al.2000
Enterobacteria phage λEscherichia coli receptor exploitation35 cylces Vicariant, sympatricPre-zygoticMeyer et al.2016
Tetranychus urticaeResistance to host plant toxinOvermeer1966
T. urticaeResistance to host plant toxinFry1999
Helianthus annus × H. petiolaris and H. anomalusHybridRieseburg et al.1996
S. cerevisiaeGreig et al.2002
D. melanogasterLife historyGhosh & Joshi2012
Drosophila subobscuraMate behaviorBárbaro et al.2015
Digital organisms~42,000; ~850 EcologicalPost-zygoticAnderson & Harmon2014
Schizosaccharomyces pombeComplete reproductive isolationSeike et al.2015
D. pseudoobscuraCourtship song130Debelle et al.2014
Callosobruchus maculatus40 Debelle et al.2010