Biology / Unit 8 Bio 1691 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Speciation Defined
Captions available
The idea
Speciation is the formation of two or more descendant species from one ancestral population, requiring reproductive isolation between the resulting populations.
In practice
One ancestral population splitting into two populations that no longer interbreed, even if later reunited, has undergone speciation.
Where people slip
Speciation requires reproductive isolation to take hold — geographic separation alone, without isolation persisting, does not complete the process.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for Biology