The Canary Islands consist of seven volcanic islands that are west of Africa and make up an archipelago. The name of these islands are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Gomera, Palma, and Hierro. These islands are home to three different species of lizards called G. atlantica, G. stehlini, and G. galloti (Lab Manual: Lab 6: Island Biogeography and Evolution: Solving A Phylogenetic Puzzle Using Molecular Genetics). The Canary Islands were named the Fortunate Islands by the Romans. An indigenous population resided there called the Guanches. King Juba is thought to have discovering the islands for western civilization around the 1st century AD (http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/canary.htm). The climate on the
…show more content…
Christopher Columbus stopped by the islands to replenish his supplies (http://www.arona.travel/portal/turismo/fdes_d4_v6.jsp?codMenu=1131&codMenuPN=1087&codMenuSN=1094&language=en). Statement of the Problem: Evolutionary biologists have been trying to figure out the phylogenetic history of the three species of the lizards that live on the seven islands known as the Canary Islands. They also question whether the fact that there are 4 morphologically different populations of G. galloti on the four westernmost islands suggest continuing evolution. Hypothesis:
The closer the islands are to each other the more closely related the species of lizards on the islands are to each other. Also, that the 4 morphologically different populations of G. galloti on the westernmost islands suggest continuing evolution. I came up with this hypothesis because it seems logical that the closer a species lives to another species the more similar they will be. Moreover, if there are 4 morphologically different species of G. galloti this does suggest continuing evolution because the species have different traits/ characteristics that they most likely acquired in their different habitats. Materials: …show more content…
Overall, all three of the phylogenetic trees are similar and show the evolution of the lizards. G. atlantica (Lazarote and Fuerteventura), G. stehlini (Gran Canaria), and G. galloti (Tenerife, Palma, Gomera, and Hierro). In every chart, it is based on different traits that may be involved with their evolution and it shows the same results. The closest island’s population have shown to be the oldest and least similar to the others. The characteristics of the population show they have been isolated the longest since they have the most amount of genetic similarity. Other populations like G. galloti show that speciation has occurred among them and resulted in geographic and reproductive isolation. Evolution among these species has occurred over time based on distance and time. Results support all of my charts because it fits well along the evolutionary reasons: distance, time, and genes. However, there could have been errors in the first part of the lab that could have affected the chart and the understanding on how I should have labeled each branch. On the first part of the lab, my errors may have been involved with the miscalculations of the distance. Perhaps two branches similarly related could have been switched and corrected. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are closer to each other that it may be easier to mistaken their place on their charts. Another error could have been the measurement that could have went along with the
Christopher Columbus stopped by the islands to replenish his supplies (http://www.arona.travel/portal/turismo/fdes_d4_v6.jsp?codMenu=1131&codMenuPN=1087&codMenuSN=1094&language=en). Statement of the Problem: Evolutionary biologists have been trying to figure out the phylogenetic history of the three species of the lizards that live on the seven islands known as the Canary Islands. They also question whether the fact that there are 4 morphologically different populations of G. galloti on the four westernmost islands suggest continuing evolution. Hypothesis:
The closer the islands are to each other the more closely related the species of lizards on the islands are to each other. Also, that the 4 morphologically different populations of G. galloti on the westernmost islands suggest continuing evolution. I came up with this hypothesis because it seems logical that the closer a species lives to another species the more similar they will be. Moreover, if there are 4 morphologically different species of G. galloti this does suggest continuing evolution because the species have different traits/ characteristics that they most likely acquired in their different habitats. Materials: …show more content…
Overall, all three of the phylogenetic trees are similar and show the evolution of the lizards. G. atlantica (Lazarote and Fuerteventura), G. stehlini (Gran Canaria), and G. galloti (Tenerife, Palma, Gomera, and Hierro). In every chart, it is based on different traits that may be involved with their evolution and it shows the same results. The closest island’s population have shown to be the oldest and least similar to the others. The characteristics of the population show they have been isolated the longest since they have the most amount of genetic similarity. Other populations like G. galloti show that speciation has occurred among them and resulted in geographic and reproductive isolation. Evolution among these species has occurred over time based on distance and time. Results support all of my charts because it fits well along the evolutionary reasons: distance, time, and genes. However, there could have been errors in the first part of the lab that could have affected the chart and the understanding on how I should have labeled each branch. On the first part of the lab, my errors may have been involved with the miscalculations of the distance. Perhaps two branches similarly related could have been switched and corrected. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are closer to each other that it may be easier to mistaken their place on their charts. Another error could have been the measurement that could have went along with the