Species flocks (SFs) fascinate evolutionary biologists who wonder whether such striking diversification can be driven by normal evolutionary processes. Multiple definitions of SFs have hindered the study of their origins. Previous studies identified a monophyletic taxon as a SF if it displays high speciosity in an area in which it is endemic (criterion 1), high ecological diversity among species (criterion 2), and if it dominates the habitat in terms of biomass (criterion 3); we used these criteria in our analyses. Our starting hypothesis is that normal evolutionary processes may provide a sufficient explanation for most SFs. We thus clearly separate each criterion and identify which biological (intrinsic) and environmental (extrinsic) traits are most favourable to their realization.

中文翻译：

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了解物种起源的过程，重点关注海洋南极动物群

物种群 (SFs) 令进化生物学家着迷，他们想知道这种惊人的多样化是否可以由正常的进化过程驱动。SF 的多重定义阻碍了对其起源的研究。先前的研究将一个单系分类群确定为 SF，如果它在地方性区域（标准 1）、物种之间的生态多样性高（标准 2），并且如果它在生物量方面占主导地位（标准 3） ); 我们在分析中使用了这些标准。我们的初始假设是正常的进化过程可以为大多数 SF 提供充分的解释。因此，我们清楚地将每个标准分开，并确定哪些生物（内在）和环境（外在）特征最有利于它们的实现。