Abstract
In animals, speciation often requires that population divergence goes through three major sequential evolutionary stages, i.e. ecological divergence, arise of sexual isolation and the build up of genetic incompatibility. There is now theoretical consensus regarding favourable conditions required for speciation to reach its final and irreversible stage, but empirical tests remain rare. I will present recent research from the Swedish hybrid zone between collared and pied flycatchers. A major advantage of this study system is that questions concerning all three major sources of reproductive isolation and their interconnections can be approached. I will discuss how identification of the genes coding for the traits involved at different stages of speciation may be used to draw conclusions about the links between the processes driving their evolution.
Anna Qvarnström
Uppsala University, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC)