Two new research studies arrive at conflicting conclusions on speciation, one on Himalayan songbirds and one on Brazilian ants. The songbird research study was published in the prestigious British journal Nature while the ant research study was published in the American journal Current Biology.
The songbird study was led by Trevor D. Price of the University of Chicago, and the Brazilian ant study was led by Christian Rabeling of the University of Rochester, both highly respected international teams.
Greek philosophers are thought to be the first to classify animals and plants, each class having similar attributes. While the story behind the term species (Greek εἶδος) began with Plato, defining the meaning of species continues to be controversial.
Building on Plato, Aristotle used genus (γένος) and species as philosophical categories. A genus was a category, and a species was a subcategory of a genus. At the time, the two terms were just as often applied to inanimate things as to living ones. The term continues looking for its definition.
In The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin presented nature as a constant struggle, often coined as the “war of nature” or the “survival of the fittest.” As one dominates and eliminates others through a continuous process of competition and change, Darwin argued, “extinction and natural selection go hand in hand.” Recent freshwater studies, however, on algae defy Darwin.
Geographical isolation is a driving force of speciation, hypothesized by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species by means of natural selection. The emergence of new species is “chiefly grounded on the laws of geographical distribution, that forms now perfectly distinct [species] have descended from a single parent-form,” Darwin argued.
The University of California Berkeley (UCB) Evolution 101 hosts the website page “Causes of Speciation.” Their argument for the theory is logical:
“Scientists think that geographic isolation is a common way for the process of speciation to begin: rivers change course, mountains rise, continents drift, organisms migrate, and what was once a continuous population is divided into two or more smaller populations.”
Darwin, Then and Now, the Most Amazing Story in the History of Science, is a chronicle of who Darwin was, how he developed his theory, specifically what he said, and what scientists have discovered since the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859.
The book traces the rise and fall of evolution's popularity as a scientifically valid theory. With over 1,000 references from Darwin and scientists, Darwin Then and Now retraces developments in the most amazing story in the history of science. DarwinThenandNow.com focuses on understanding the intersection of biological evolution and science.
Two new research studies arrive at conflicting conclusions on speciation, one on Himalayan songbirds and one on Brazilian ants. The songbird research study was published in the prestigious British journal Nature while the ant research study was published in the American journal Current Biology.
Greek philosophers are thought to be the first to classify animals and plants, each class having similar attributes. While the 
In 
Geographical isolation is a driving force of speciation, hypothesized by 
Paleontologist 