Reproductive Ecology of Dry Season Ornithophilous tree species. Dry season blooming tropical ornithophilous tree species in India

Genes survive down the ages only if they are good at building bodies that are good at living and reproducing in the particular way of life chosen by the species. But there is more to it than this. To be good at surviving, a gene must be good at working together with the other genes in the same species БЂ“ the same river. To survive in the long run, a gene must be a good companion. It must do well in the company of, or against the background of, the other genes in the same river. Genes of another species are in a different river. They do not have to get on well together БЂ“ not in the same sense, anyway БЂ“ for they do not have to share the same bodies. The feature that defines a species is that all members of {6} any one species have the same river of genes flowing through them, and all the genes in a species have to be prepared to be good companions of one another. A new species comes into existence when an existing species divides into two. The river of genes forks in time. From a gene's point of view, speciation, the origin of new species, is БЂњthe long goodbye.БЂ«After a brief period of partial separation, the two rivers go their separate ways forever, or until one or the other dries extinct into the sand ...»