Speciation

2004. Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 101: 11040–11045. Kay KM, Reeves PA, Olmstead RG, Schemske DW. 2005. Rapid speciation and the evolution of hummingbird pollination in neotropical Costus subgenus Costus (Costaceae): evidence from nrDNA ITS and ETS sequences. American Journal of Botany 92: 1899–1910. Olesen J.M., Valido, A. ( 2003). Lizards as pollinators and seed…

Species And Why it Matters If They Become Extinct According to the famous definition by Ernst Mayr, a species is said to be “a group of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups (Ridley)”. This quotation defines the biological species concept that is a largely accepted definition of a species. The human population is increasingly becoming a reckless civilization with no regard for the actions we follow therefore the concept of a species becoming…

traits. Int J Plant Sci. 164(3):21-42. Habel JC, Ulrich W, Asssmann T. 2013. Allele elimination recalculated: nested subset analyses for molecular biogeographical data. Journal of Biogeography. 40(4):769-777. Harrison RG. 1991. Molecular Changes at Speciation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 22:281-308. Holt RD. 1977. Predation, Apparent Competition, and the Structure of Prey Communities. Theor Popul Biol. 12(2):197-229. Mallet J. 2010. Group Selection and the Development of the…

The Strawberry Poison-Dart Frog (Dendrobates pumilio, as well as, Oophaga pumilio) are very small, slender, dioecious, bilateral symmetric ("Poison frogs", 2003; Sandmeier, 2001; Savage, 2002; Penner 2011, n.p.) creatures that normally reach 17-24 mm in length with four, digits on their hands and feet. These frogs have dark eyes and their skin is very dewy with a gleamy appearance (Penner 2011, n.p.) and tend to vary in colors –strawberry-red, yellow, white, green, orange all mostly with black…

in order to protect and separate themselves from the environment around them (Monnard 2002). “Membrane-bounded structures are capable of maintaining specific groups of macromolecules within, facilitating their interaction and promoting a form of speciation that is lacking in bulk-phase environments” (Deamer 2002). First cells were essentially immortal in the fact that they replicated exact copies of themselves in order to survive during mitosis. This allowed for life to progress and…

“The shark is the apex predator in the sea. Sharks have moulded evolution for 450 million years. All fish species that are prey to the sharks have had their behaviour, their speed, their camouflage, their defense mechanisms moulded by the shark.” – Paul Watson. Sharks are cartilaginous fish with pair fins and nares, two chambered hearts and jaws. These characteristics are unique to the class, chondrichthyes. Ray, skates, and chimaeras are members of this class and sharks closest relatives.…

Natural selection as defined by Charles Darwin has exerted a powerful influence on how we perceive our world. This theory holds that favorable characteristics in a species will persist in populations, while disadvantageous traits will be selected against via the death of unfit individuals from environmental pressures, such as predation, decreased availability of resources like nutrients and shelter, and natural processes such as drought; thus only individuals with the most advantageous traits…

random changes in that give rise to new alleles. We talked about this one earlier. Geographic isolation is what happens when mating between to populations of the same species does not occur because they never meet up. That means that over time, speciation (creation of a new species) can occur because the allele frequency can continue to polarize over time. Ancient sharks began to develop traits that allowed them to adapt to the changing environment. When the first sharks were around, the world…

The second argument Dawkins makes is that religion and God create a false hope to all those who put their faith in it (Dawkins 2014). He believes religion in the face of God encourages people to believe in a higher being who oversees everything and plays are part in the lives of each person on earth (Dawkins 2014). God and religion also creates a false hope that there will be white gates waiting for the after death (Dawkins 2014). Dawkins believes that God is a being that controls and influences…

The main objective of the laboratory was to identity different species of honeybees based on their physical and genetic attributes. Due to the invasion of African honeybees in North America, hybridization has increased between African and European honeybees. The hypothesis is that the four unknown bees are hybridized with a European mother and an African father. The wing-lengths of European, African, and unknown bees were measured, and the mtDNA of eight different bees were subjected to gel…