Speciation: Mosquitoes Singing in Harmony

“Singing on the Wing” as a Mechanism for Species Recognition in the Malarial Mosquito Anopheles gambiae

Anopheles gambiae, responsible for the majority of malaria deaths annually, is a complex of seven species and several chromosomal/molecular forms. The complexity of malaria epidemiology and control is due in part to An. gambiae's remarkable genetic plasticity, enabling its adaptation to a range of human-influenced habitats. This leads to rapid ecological speciation when reproductive isolation m...

Darwin's finches: Population variation and sympatric speciation.

The classical model of the adaptive radiation of Darwin's finches is one of repeated speciation in allopatry. Evidence presented here suggests that sympatric specification may have contributed to the radiation. On Isla Genovesa Geospiza conirostris displays several features that are consistent with a model of sympatric speciation. Males are polymorphic in song type. Those singing song A have si...

Harmony in the Polyphonic Songs of Epirus: Representation, Statistical Analysis and Generation

This paper examines a previously unstudied musical corpus derived from the polyphonic singing tradition of Epirus employing statistical methods. This analysis will mainly focus on unique harmonic aspects of these songs, which feature, for instance, unresolved dissonances (major second and minor seventh intervals) at structurally stable positions of the pieces (e.g. cadences). Traditional triadi...

Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of the Neocellia Series of Anopheles mosquitoes in the Oriental Region.

Molecular studies of population divergence and speciation across the Oriental Region are sparse, despite the region's high biodiversity and extensive Pliocene and Pleistocene environmental change. A molecular phylogenetic study of the Neocellia Series of Anopheles mosquitoes was undertaken to identify patterns of diversification across the Oriental Region and to infer the role of Pleistocene an...

Speciation in Brazilian Atlantic Forest Mosquitoes: A Mini-Review of the Anopheles cruzii Species Complex