Adaptive radiation plays a fundamental role in our understanding of the evolutionary
process. However, the concept has provoked strong and differing opinions concerning its
definition and nature among researchers studying a wide diversity of systems. Here, we take
a broad view of what constitutes an adaptive radiation, and seek to find commonalities
among disparate examples, ranging from plants to invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and
remote islands to lakes and continents, to better understand processes shared across …