Question
What is adaptive radiation? Explain with examples.
✓
Answer
→ The process of development of different species starting from one point of a given geographical area to other geographical habitats is called adaptive radiation.
Darwin finch
→ Darwin Finch is an excellent example of this type of phenomenon.
→ Darwin saw several species of finches across the Galapagos Islands.
→ He speculated that all species had evolved on the island by themselves.
→ Along with other features of the original finches (seed eating), their beaks may have evolved for other forms that made them insectivorous and herbivorous finches.
Australian marsupials
→ Another example is the Australian marsupial.
→ Most marsupials were different from each other.
They evolved from a common set of ancestors, but they all evolved on the Australian island continent.
→ When more than one adaptive diffusion occurs in a geographical area (representing different habitats) it is called convergent evolution.
→ Mammals of Australia marsupials (E.g.:- the wolf and the Tasmanian wolf) show a similar evolution.
Darwin finch
→ Darwin Finch is an excellent example of this type of phenomenon.
→ Darwin saw several species of finches across the Galapagos Islands.
→ He speculated that all species had evolved on the island by themselves.
→ Along with other features of the original finches (seed eating), their beaks may have evolved for other forms that made them insectivorous and herbivorous finches.
Australian marsupials
→ Another example is the Australian marsupial.
→ Most marsupials were different from each other.
They evolved from a common set of ancestors, but they all evolved on the Australian island continent.
→ When more than one adaptive diffusion occurs in a geographical area (representing different habitats) it is called convergent evolution.
→ Mammals of Australia marsupials (E.g.:- the wolf and the Tasmanian wolf) show a similar evolution.
| Placental mammals | Australian Marsupials |
| Mole | Marsupial mole |
| Ant eater | Numbat (Ant eater) |
| Mouse | Marsupial mouse |
| Lemur | Spotted cuscus |
| Flying squirrel | Flying phalanger |
| Bobcat | Tasmanian tiger cat |
| Wolf | Tasmanian wolf |
Need a full question paper?
Generate a complete, print-ready paper with questions like this in minutes — across 16+ boards, with answer keys.
Explore more
Similar questions
List the Salient Features of Human Genome
- Why was a bacterium used in the first instance of the construction of an artificial recombinant DNA molecule?
- Name the scientists who accomplished this and how?
Explain why children eating golden rice are unlikely to suffer from 'night blindness'?
What are transgenic plants? Give some example.
Among the ecosystem services are control of floods and soil erosion. How is this achieved by the biotic components of the ecosystem?
Write the three basic facts that are highlighted in Mendel's Law of Dominance.
- Draw a diagram of pistil showing pollen tube growth in angiosperm and label;
- Stigma.
- Male gametes.
- Micropyle.
- Ovule.
- Write the function of micropyle.
Name the three layers of uterine wall.
What is the basic principle of vaccination? How do vaccines prevent microbial infections? Name the organism from which hepatitis B vaccine is produced.
- State how the constant internal environment is beneficial to organisms
- Explain any two alternatives by which organisms can overcome stressful external conditions.