Speciation

Speciation is the event of the creation of a new species. Generally this occurs when a parent species splits into two populations, perhaps separated by geography, each of which then accumulates changes from sexual reproduction and random mutation until the two populations are no longer capable of interbreeding. In rare cases among lower forms of life such as bacteria, single mutations can cause drastic changes (called "saltation") that can result in speciation in a very short time.

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