[Testing of alternative hypotheses for speciation: a case study on ground vertebrates in tropical mountains].

Empirical testing of the hypotheses for speciation, namely, allopatric (refugia model) and parapatric (gradient model) models, has been attempted using molecular phylogenetic methods by a case study on several groups of closely related species of small mammals inhabiting the Ethiopian Plateau. Comparison of the results with the available literature data on other ground vertebrates of tropical mountains has allowed us to demonstrate groundlessness of the currently popular concept on the significant role of parapatric speciation in formation of modern tropical biodiversity. It has been shown that a marked partition of altitudinal gradient by relatively close ground vertebrate species of tropical mountains in the majority of cases is secondary in nature and is not connected with the specific mode of their origination.