Sympatric speciation

Speciation can also occur among populations in the same geographic area.

An example is polyploidy in plants.

  1. Abnormal meiosis may yield a diploid gamete.

  2. Self-fertilization among diploid gametes can yield polyploid offspring with twice the number of chromosomes as the parent.

Many crop plants, including wheat, bananas, potatoes, and coffee, are polyploid.