Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Field Experiments of Pollination Ecology: The Case of Lycoris sanguinea var. sanguinea
Published on: November 25, 2016
Evolutionary patterns of diversification in the Andean hummingbird genus Adelomyia
Jaime A Chaves1, Thomas B Smith
1Center for Tropical Research, Institute of Environment, University of California, Los Angeles, 619 Charles E. Young Dr. South, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496, USA. jachaves@ucla.edu
Abstract:
The patterns of genetic diversity and morphological variation are of central importance in understanding the evolutionary process that drive diversification. We use molecular, morphological, and ecological data to explore the influence of geography and ecology in promoting speciation in the widespread Andean hummingbird genus Adelomyia. Six monophyletic clades were recovered which show distributional limits at well-defined geographic barriers. Percentage sequence divergence ranged between 5.8% and 8.2% between phylogroups separated by large (>4000 km) and small (<50 km) distances respectively, suggesting that geographic isolation may be influential at very different scales. We show that morphological traits in independent phylogroups are more related to environmental heterogeneity than to geographic barriers. We provide a molecular reconstruction of relationships within Adelomyia and recommend its use in future comparative studies of historical biogeography and diversification in the Andes.
Related Concept Videos
Convergent Evolution
The Evidence for Evolution
Speciation Rates
Formation of Species
Frequency-dependent Selection
Mate Choice
