Speciation in flowering plants: an overview
Shivanna K.R.
Published on : 31-Dec-2020
DOI : https://dx.doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2020.30.4.01
DownloadAbstract
The great biological diversity prevailing on the planet earth is the result of speciation taking place since life originated over 3.5 billion years ago. Speciation is the result of natural selection acting on heritable variations. The common definition of species, generally practiced by taxonomists, is a group of individuals that is morphologically distinct from other groups. The literature on speciation is extensive and most of the reviews cover one or another aspect of speciation rather than the entire field. In this review, an attempt is made to provide an overview on speciation, particularly the definitions, requirements, various modes and pathways including an outlook proposed on the rate of speciation in the coming decades due to ongoing human-induced environmental and biological changes, keeping in view the non-specialists.
