Sympatric speciation is the process through which new species evolve from a single ancestral species while inhabiting the same geographic region. In
evolutionary biology and
biogeography, sympatric and
sympatry are terms referring to organisms whose
ranges overlap or are even identical, so that they occur together at least in some places. If these organisms are closely related (e.g.
sister species), such a distribution may be the result of sympatric
speciation.
Etymologically, sympatry is derived from the Greek roots
συν ("together", "with") and
πατρίς ("homeland" or "fatherland"). The term was invented by Poulton in 1904, who explains the derivation.