macroevolution

The long-term geological stability of aquatic habitats has been demonstrated to be a determinant in the evolution of macroinvertebrate fauna, with species in running (lotic) waters having lower dispersal abilities, smaller ranges and higher gene flow between populations than species in standing (lentic) environments. Lotic species have been hypothesized...

Specialization to extreme environments is often considered an evolutionary dead-end, leading to irreversible adaptations and reduced evolvability. There is, however, mixed evidence for this macroevolutionary pattern, and limited data from speciose lineages. Here, we tested the effect of habitat specialization...