Adaptive Radiation and Species Diversification
Through a common ancestor, species diverge into new populations which eventually adapt to their new environments and evolve to become their own sub species and then distinct species. This occurs through the process of adaptive radiation. The population of an ancestor species radiates outwards to different ecological niches. From there, these now separate populations adapt to their new habitats and resources in isolation. This gives them opportunity to evolve and become their own species based off of genetic changes that make them most fit for their new environments. Examples of these kinds of adaptations derive from geographic isolation from other species, reduction of gene flow among the populations, …show more content…
John Endler conducted a study on guppies found in streams of northeastern South America. The male guppies of this species inherit spots, varying in color and size. Females are more attracted to those with the colorful spots, but so are the guppies’ predators. The battle between reproduction and survival is a constant struggle present in the process of sexual selection. Characteristics that threaten an individual’s survival tend to be the same as those the mates are attracted to, ultimately setting the individual up for danger. As survival of the fittest pertains to the success of survival and reproduction, sexual selection can only favor one or the other. Downstream is where the prey is located whereas father up the stream is where they are less in population. The combination of sexual selection and the risk of predators causes the species to diverge. Moving down the stream, the decline in color, size, and number of spots on the guppies becomes obvious. Sexual selection comes to play as finding a mate and staying alive oppose each other. Because of this, variation occurs within the species as spots are favored for mates whereas less spots are favored for camouflage. The divergence of a species due to the sexual selection pertains to the varying characteristics of individuals who either favor survival or …show more content…
Allopatric speciation is when a physical barrier separates a population, forcing it to diverge into two separate species. For example, the formation of the Grand Canyon caused the inhabited squirrels to diverge, as this newfound geographic isolation forced this originally single population into separate species because the individuals could only breed with those in their same location. Peripatric speciation still carries out the same separation from a physical barrier as with allopatric, but one of the separating species is significantly smaller than the other. For example, the finches of the Galápagos carry out this form of speciation when isolated on the different islands as the population counts of the new species may vary in size as the divergence is not equal. Parapatric speciation has a wide geographic range, forcing individuals to solely mate with those in their region. “Like allopatric and peripatric speciation, different habitats influence the development of different species in parapatric speciation. Instead of being separated by a physical barrier, the species are separated by differences in the same environment” (“Speciation”). For example, grasses such as Anthoxanthum that live in areas with mine contamination, the affected grasses have to form adaptations to the metal contaminants and diverge from those unaffected. Selection
Through a common ancestor, species diverge into new populations which eventually adapt to their new environments and evolve to become their own sub species and then distinct species. This occurs through the process of adaptive radiation. The population of an ancestor species radiates outwards to different ecological niches. From there, these now separate populations adapt to their new habitats and resources in isolation. This gives them opportunity to evolve and become their own species based off of genetic changes that make them most fit for their new environments. Examples of these kinds of adaptations derive from geographic isolation from other species, reduction of gene flow among the populations, …show more content…
John Endler conducted a study on guppies found in streams of northeastern South America. The male guppies of this species inherit spots, varying in color and size. Females are more attracted to those with the colorful spots, but so are the guppies’ predators. The battle between reproduction and survival is a constant struggle present in the process of sexual selection. Characteristics that threaten an individual’s survival tend to be the same as those the mates are attracted to, ultimately setting the individual up for danger. As survival of the fittest pertains to the success of survival and reproduction, sexual selection can only favor one or the other. Downstream is where the prey is located whereas father up the stream is where they are less in population. The combination of sexual selection and the risk of predators causes the species to diverge. Moving down the stream, the decline in color, size, and number of spots on the guppies becomes obvious. Sexual selection comes to play as finding a mate and staying alive oppose each other. Because of this, variation occurs within the species as spots are favored for mates whereas less spots are favored for camouflage. The divergence of a species due to the sexual selection pertains to the varying characteristics of individuals who either favor survival or …show more content…
Allopatric speciation is when a physical barrier separates a population, forcing it to diverge into two separate species. For example, the formation of the Grand Canyon caused the inhabited squirrels to diverge, as this newfound geographic isolation forced this originally single population into separate species because the individuals could only breed with those in their same location. Peripatric speciation still carries out the same separation from a physical barrier as with allopatric, but one of the separating species is significantly smaller than the other. For example, the finches of the Galápagos carry out this form of speciation when isolated on the different islands as the population counts of the new species may vary in size as the divergence is not equal. Parapatric speciation has a wide geographic range, forcing individuals to solely mate with those in their region. “Like allopatric and peripatric speciation, different habitats influence the development of different species in parapatric speciation. Instead of being separated by a physical barrier, the species are separated by differences in the same environment” (“Speciation”). For example, grasses such as Anthoxanthum that live in areas with mine contamination, the affected grasses have to form adaptations to the metal contaminants and diverge from those unaffected. Selection