Ernst Mayr - The theory of geographic speciation (64/150)

To listen to more of Ernst Meyer’s stories, go to the playlist:    • Ernst Mayr - Early life and education (1/150)   US-German biologist Ernst Mayr (1904-2005) was a leader in evolutionary biology, gaining a PhD at 21. In his seminal work 'Systematics and Origin of the Species' considered as one of his greatest works, he integrated the theories of Darwin and Mendel. [Listener: Walter J Bock; date recorded: 1997] TRANSCRIPT: How can… such reproductively isolated species originate? I mean, they couldn't originate on one place because what… what would pull them apart at this place? And that is the theory of geographic speciation, these are… new species originate when two populations get geographically isolated and in this isolation either by… by action of the ocean or by… by a vegetational barrier, let's say a… a desert or a savanna, in the case of forest birds… during this period of isolation there is enough genetic turn over in these populations so that eventually these two populations are so different that they react to each other as if they were two different species.