ring species
ring species A group of subspecies that are contiguous along a cline. Members of each population are able to mate successfully with members of adjacent populations, but the group as a whole forms a ring, with sufficient morphological differentiation in some places to prevent interbreeding between overlapping populations. Gulls of the genus Larus comprise a circumpolar ring species in the northern hemisphere. Moving westwards from Britain, the herring gull (L. argentatus) occurs in North America (where one variant has developed into a distinct species, L. glaucoides), but is somewhat different from the British race. Between central Asia and north Europe, the races increasingly resemble the black-backed gull (L. fuscus) and in northern Europe the two species overlap and do not naturally interbreed.
ring species
ring species Two species with a looped or ringlike distribution pattern, for example circumpolar, which comprises a series of interbreeding forms that are intermediate between the two species. The latter occur where the two ends of the `ring' meet. Ring species thus demonstrate how the evolution of differences among the different populations or subspecies leads eventually to the formation of new species.
More From encyclopedia.com
About this article
ring species
All Sources -
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
ring species