Image Caption
The branching points on this partial Drosophila phylogeny represent speciation events that happened in the past.
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This image is part of a series:
![](https://evolution.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/drosophila_scene_1-350x350.png)
Speciation example (2 of 5)
The scene: a population of wild fruit flies is minding its own business on several bunches of rotting bananas, cheerfully laying their eggs in the mushy fruit.![](https://evolution.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/drosophila_scene_2-350x350.png)
Speciation example (3 of 5)
Disaster strikes: A hurricane washes the bananas and the immature fruit flies they contain out to sea. The banana bunch washes up on an island off the coast of the…![](https://evolution.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/drosophila_scene_3-350x350.png)
Speciation example (4 of 5)
The populations diverge: Ecological conditions are slightly different on the island, and the island population evolves under different selective pressures and experiences different random events than the mainland population does.…![](https://evolution.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/drosophila_scene_4-350x350.png)