| Autor: |
Holstad A; Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway., Voje KL; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway., Opedal ØH; Biodiversity Unit, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden., Bolstad GH; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway., Bourg S; Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway., Hansen TF; Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway., Pélabon C; Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. |
| Abstrakt: |
Heritable variation is a prerequisite for evolutionary change, but the relevance of genetic constraints on macroevolutionary timescales is debated. By using two datasets on fossil and contemporary taxa, we show that evolutionary divergence among populations, and to a lesser extent among species, increases with microevolutionary evolvability. We evaluate and reject several hypotheses to explain this relationship and propose that an effect of evolvability on population and species divergence can be explained by the influence of genetic constraints on the ability of populations to track rapid, stationary environmental fluctuations. |
