Discussion Questions: Allopatric Speciation
Why does the geological history of the Isthmus of Panama make it a good place to look for evidence of allopatric speciation in marine organisms? What kind of life history strategy (mating patterns, number of offspring, degree of mobility of larvae and adults, etc) do you think might encourage allopatric speciation of populations along the isthmus? What life history strategies might encourage, not only allopatric speciation, but the kind of speciation that Schneider and his colleagues hypothesize among Ecuadorian hummingbirds?
