Gut Microbes Can Split a Species

sciencehabit writes: The community of microbes in an animal's gut may be enough to turn the creature into a different species. Species usually split when their members become so genetically distinct--usually by living in separate environments that cause them to evolve different adaptations (think finches on different islands)--that they can no longer successfully breed with each other. Now researchers have shown that a couple groups of wasps have become new species not because their DNA has changed, but because the bacteria in their guts have changed--the first example of this type of speciation.