It makes sense that simple historical happenstance is the cause of much speciation. When learning about evolution and natural selection, we hear so much about n

It makes sense that simple historical happenstance is the cause of much speciation. When learning about evolution and natural selection, we hear so much about nice-sounding stories about Species X and how they got some particular Adaptation Y because it allowed them to be more fit in some particular way Z. While these are likely true, they run the risk of being just-so evolutionary psychology stories that are told not because they are representative of mutations and adaptations, but because they are illustrative of the concept. There are about 400,000 known species of beetle, some of which are extremely similar. For how many of them can we point to a cause-and-effect meaningful-to-humans story of why they have diverged from their closest relative? Sometimes weirdness just happens and circumstance leads to change.