Peterson AT, Sanchez-Cordero V
Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F. 04510, Mexico. Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional A.
Science. 1999 Aug 20;285(5431):1265-7. doi: 10.1126/science.285.5431.1265.
Theory predicts low niche differentiation between species over evolutionary time scales, but little empirical evidence is available. Reciprocal geographic predictions based on ecological niche models of sister taxon pairs of birds, mammals, and butterflies in southern Mexico indicate niche conservatism over several million years of independent evolution (between putative sister taxon pairs) but little conservatism at the level of families. Niche conservatism over such time scales indicates that speciation takes place in geographic, not ecological, dimensions and that ecological differences evolve later.
理论预测，在进化时间尺度上物种间的生态位分化较低，但几乎没有实证证据。基于墨西哥南部鸟类、哺乳动物和蝴蝶姐妹分类单元对的生态位模型的相互地理预测表明，在数百万年的独立进化过程中（在假定的姐妹分类单元对之间）存在生态位保守性，但在科的水平上几乎没有保守性。在如此长的时间尺度上的生态位保守性表明，物种形成发生在地理维度而非生态维度，并且生态差异随后才会进化。
