Actually, as an evolutionary biologist I do know a thing or two about speciation mechanisms and hybrid zone dynamics. Also, the Lampropeltis getula complex has been one of my obsessions for quite a while now. So it's not like I'm shooting blancs here.



Anyway, I don't recall ever having claimed that the Yuma Kings are an isolated population. However, I did make the distinction between clines and hybrid zones, and I did suggest that the Yuma King range is positioned within a larger area of populations displaying clinal variation, rather than within the typically quite narrow margins of an actual hybrid zone. Therefore, Yuma Kings are mostly the product of natural selection, rather than intergradation.



However, part of the problem here is a matter of definition. I have no trouble whatsoever understanding your arguments, as this whole discussion really isn't that complicated to begin with. Ever considered the possibility of someone not agreeing with you? So just to make my point, let me ask you this:



How can one tell a pattern of clinal variation as an adaptive response to an environmental gradient, from a similar pattern resulting from intergradation, most likely (always, actually) also associated to an environmental gradient?



That's right, you can't, and neither can I. Not without molecular data, that is. Hence the entire point of this topic, by the way.



You're welcome.
-----
I'm Dutch. Somebody shoot me.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]