UC Berkeley
Image Caption
When the gopher lineage splits into lineages A and B, lice have few opportunities for gopher-switching, and lice on gopher lineage A don't mate with lice living on gopher lineage B. This "geographic" isolation of the louse lineages may cause them to become reproductively isolated as well, and hence, separate species.
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This image is part of a series:
Cospeciation (1 of 3)
A species of louse lives on a species of gopher. When the gophers get together to mate, the lice get an opportunity to switch gophers and perhaps mate with lice…