Speciation is the divergence of a population into different species through the process of evolution. It occurs in two ways: allopatry and sympatry. In allopatry, the most common form of speciation, a geographic barrier separates populations of organisms which, over time, evolve into distinct species incapable of interbreeding. Sympatry is a rare form of speciation that is still not fully recognized, but there are a few examples that have been discovered and studied. This form of speciation occurs without geographic barriers. Sympatric speciation is not well attested due to difficulty in determining whether secondary colonization or other introduction of new genetic material has not occurred within a population. One example has been studied extensively and is held as a model of the process of sympatric evolution. …show more content…
Kautt, Gonzalo Machado-Schiaffino, and Axel Meyer at the University of Konstanz in Germany analyzed the genomes of endemic species of Midas cichlids in two Nicaraguan lakes. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the manner and timeline by which these populations of fish diverged. The researchers studied organisms belonging to the species complex of cichlid fish, Amphilophus. These fish live in two isolated crater lakes, Lake Apoyo and Xiloa, and are endemic to the area. Physiology such as body shape, color, and type of food consumed differentiate each species. High crater walls and restricted access to other bodies of water contribute to the closed ecological system that is isolated from possible colonization by other species. However, whether or not the different species found in these lakes are genetically distinct remains uncertain. The population in Lake Apoyo is more ambiguous when compared to the population in Lake Xiloa as the latter is more isolated. Additionally, the species populations within the lake are thought to be monophyletic, having originated from a common