How many generations does speciation take?

Hi custard,This is just a quick thought. You may be looking at the problem the wrong way round - trying to forward-simulate the evolutionary process using assumed fecundity to reach a desired level of speciosity. An alternative way of doing it is to a) use observed speciosity; b) use an inferred timescale for the evolutionary process using some form of the molecular clock; c) from this data calculate an inferred speciation and extinction rate. Along with a and b, you can also use an observed extinction rate if the species you're interested in leaves fossils behind it. The method is described in "inferring speciation rates from phylogenies" by Nee (http://homepages.ed.ac.uk/snee/evolution.pdf)Regards,mick

Hi custard,The "how" of it is currently a very active area of research. There are too many different things going on to put a number on the generations required for speciation to take place. I suggest you read "Speciation" by Coyne and Orr link to Amazon for one prominent view (within a very diverse set of views) held by evolutionary biologists on this matter. This book is has some maths in it, but not too much, and is highly readable.CheersMickEdited by AdminJar to shorten link.This message has been edited by AdminJar, 03-09-2005 20:21 AM