1993/06/11 by Nancy Knowlton, Lee A. Weigt, Luis Aníbal Solórzano +2 · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Genetic diversity and population structure #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Reproductive isolation #Gene flow #Panama #Mitochondrial DNA #Genetic divergence #Divergence (linguistics) #Biology #Ecology #Genetic algorithm #Geography #Gene #Evolutionary biology #Zoology #Genetics #Genetic diversity #Genetic variation
paper · doi:10.1126/science.8503007
openalex publication_date 1993/06/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
It is widely believed that gene flow connected many shallow water populations of the Caribbean and eastern Pacific until the Panama seaway closed 3.0 to 3.5 million years ago. Measurements of biochemical and reproductive divergence for seven closely related, transisthmian pairs of snapping shrimps (Alpheus) indicate, however, that isolation was staggered rather than simultaneous. The four least divergent pairs provide the best estimate for rates of molecular divergence and speciation. Ecological, genetic, and geological data suggest that gene flow was disrupted for the remaining three pairs by environmental change several million years before the land barrier was complete.