Ryo Yamaguchi

Speciation Through the Lens of Population Dynamics: A Theoretical Primer on How Small and Large Populations Diverge Population size and dynamics fundamentally shape speciation by influencing genetic drift, founder events, and adaptive potential. Small populations may speciate rapidly due to stronger drift, whereas...

New review out! With students in my lab, we explore how population size shapes speciation—from drift in small populations to selection in large ones. Do small or large populations speciate faster? The answer is more nuanced than you might think.
esj-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Thank you for adding that! Orr & Turelli (2001) on the evolution of DMI is such an important theoretical advance.

Oh yes, Endler 1977! Thank you for adding that monograph.

Excellent additions! Gavrilets' 1997 paper (and the 2004 book) made speciation seem much more probable than the old Wrightian landscape suggested. And yes to Barton & Bengtsson (1986). I'd probably also add Barton & Hewitt (1985) on hybrid zones.

Thank you for adding the link! Felsenstein's 1981 paper is foundational.

Great point! That actually reminds me of another Lande paper I should have mentioned: Lande (1980) "Genetic variation and phenotypic evolution during allopatric speciation."
Amazing how much foundational work came out in the early 80s!

Here are my top picks:
Maynard Smith (1966) - Sympatric speciation
Felsenstein (1981) - How recombination impedes speciation
Fowler & Levin (1984) - Polyploid speciation

What other classics would you add?

Question for speciation researchers!
I'm looking for "the most classic mathematical models of speciation" to introduce in my class. What comes to mind when you hear this phrase?
Would love to hear what you consider the classical models in the field. I'll start first:

Morning walk: a forest waterfall and Chrysolina aino (Japanese flightless leaf beetle) on a leaf. Cool autumn weather in Hokkaido.

New review out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social - 'The genomics of discrete polymorphisms maintained by disruptive selection' doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

Happy #NationalWildlifeDay!

Rainy Sunday. Black-banded Hairstreak (Antigius attilia) — Hokkaido, Japan

Wagimo signatus resting on understory foliage — Hokkaido, Japan #butterfly

A new time tree of birds reveals the interplay between dispersal, geographic range size, and diversification Flight may affect the dispersal and evolution of birds. Using a new evolutionary tree, Claramunt et al. find that efficient fliers have broader geographic ranges, and speciation reduces range size, bu...

🚨 The New Age of global bird phylogenies continues!

Hot on the heels of the fantastic updated tree created by @eliotmiller.bsky.social and others, we use a different approach to generate a near-comprehensive timetree of >9000 bird species. 1/3

www.cell.com/current-biol...

🧪🌐🪶

This work contributes new insights into alternative reproductive tactics and protandry evolution, with implications extending beyond butterflies to other species with similar life history strategies. Congratulations to Hidaka on this achievement!

The study explores a fascinating phenomenon in a butterfly - males show two distinct emergence patterns: some emerge early, others emerge simultaneously with females. Our model reveals how male body size dimorphism creates a trade-off between emergence timing and competitive advantage.

Modeling alternative strategies of male emergence timing In many butterfly species, males emerge earlier than females as part of a strategy to maximize male reproductive success. Although behavioral ecologic…

Exciting news! Our lab student Hidaka Kubo's (@hidakakubo.bsky.social ) first research paper has been published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Papilio maackii (Alpine Black Swallowtail) after rainfall

Started a Theoretical Ecology starter pack. For from complete. Respond if you want to be added or removed.

go.bsky.app/PwpvZLb

Thank you for doing this! I'd love to be added too

I made a starter pack of speciation researchers. Please let me know if you or someone you know would like to be added. I am particularly sad that so far there are not many speciation researchers from the Global South represented.
go.bsky.app/J7qDY56