1989/09/01 by R. K. Wayne, B. Van Valkenburgh, Pieter W. Kat +3 · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · #Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation #Genetic diversity and population structure #Sympatric speciation #Divergence (linguistics) #Biology #Character (mathematics) #Genetic divergence #Evolutionary biology #Mitochondrial DNA #Zoology #Genetic diversity #Genetics #Demography #Population
paper · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110896
openalex publication_date 1989/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Numerous studies have suggested that the extent of character divergence observed between two sympatric species reflects the intensity of competition for resources or space. However, the influence of time on divergence is often overlooked. We examined the relationship between time and character divergence in two groups of congeneric, sympatric canids on two continents: South American foxes and African jackals. Character divergence was assessed from measurements of body mass and dental and cranial shape. Divergence time was estimated from data on mitochondrial DNA restriction site polymorphisms. Our findings indicate that African jackals are morphologically similar despite having diverged more than 2 million years ago. By contrast, South American foxes differ substantially in both size and morphology after only 250,000 years of evolution. Thus, the lack of character divergence among the African jackals cannot be explained as a result of very recent common ancestry.