[PatrickHenry]

Everyone be nice, and please remember to use moderator-compliant FReepSpeak^tm in this thread.

[Texas Eagle]

“We have known for some time that when species invade a new environment or ecological niche, a common result is the formation of a great diversity of new species. However, we haven’t really understood how or whether the process of adaptation generally drives this pattern of species diversification.”

I know. Just call it an "act of God."

[AndrewC]

The odds that the association is simply due to chance are only one in 250, substantially higher than the standard confidence level of one chance in 20 that scientists demand.

You've gotta be shittin me!

“The fact that the association is statistically significant despite the crudeness of our estimates suggests that the true biological association is very strong,”

And it might indicate a bias in your crude estimates.

[jwalsh07]

Natural selection isn't the "driving force" behind the origin of the species any more than you are the "driving force" behind the wheel of your car.

[DennisR]

“This helps fill a big gap that has existed in evolutionary studies,” says Daniel Funk,...


But I thought there was no gap anymore...that it had been filled...that it no longer existed!