TY - JOUR TI - Speciation and the developmental alarm clock AU - Cutter, Asher D AU - Bundus, Joanna D A2 - Wittkopp, Patricia J VL - 9 PY - 2020 DA - 2020/09/09 SP - e56276 C1 - eLife 2020;9:e56276 DO - 10.7554/eLife.56276 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56276 AB - New species arise as the genomes of populations diverge. The developmental ‘alarm clock’ of speciation sounds off when sufficient divergence in genetic control of development leads hybrid individuals to infertility or inviability, the world awoken to the dawn of new species with intrinsic post-zygotic reproductive isolation. Some developmental stages will be more prone to hybrid dysfunction due to how molecular evolution interacts with the ontogenetic timing of gene expression. Considering the ontogeny of hybrid incompatibilities provides a profitable connection between ‘evo-devo’ and speciation genetics to better link macroevolutionary pattern, microevolutionary process, and molecular mechanisms. Here, we explore speciation alongside development, emphasizing their mutual dependence on genetic network features, fitness landscapes, and developmental system drift. We assess models for how ontogenetic timing of reproductive isolation can be predictable. Experiments and theory within this synthetic perspective can help identify new rules of speciation as well as rules in the molecular evolution of development. KW - speciation KW - evo-devo KW - molecular evolution KW - reproductive isolation KW - genetic networks JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -