Divergent species

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A common phrase in evolutionary biology and related disciplines, divergent species means "distinct species that share a relatively recent common ancestor." It is never used to describe two species if one is thought to be an ancestor of the other. How 'recent' the common ancestor must be depends on context.

"Neanderthals and Homo sapiens most likely shed their common ancestor 500,000 years ago. They are divergent species, separated by a lengthy evolutionary history..." [1]

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ Ian Tattersall, quoted in "Solving the Mystery of the Much-Maligned Neanderthals", Monica Amarelo, AAAS News Archives, 15 October 2002[1]
 This evolution-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.