LeisaIsRed
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someone please explain how darwin/wallaces theory of evolution by natural selection and isolation accounts for divergent evolution and convergent evolution.
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Divergent and Convergent Evolution- (1 Viewer)
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Zeref
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what are you specifically confused about?
Well it might sound silly.. but, where does isolation fit into the whole divergent/convergent evolution thing?
Zeref
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If I get a group of animals of the same species and place them in a different area with different selection pressures, what do you think will happen to that group in terms of its features? (assuming they adapt and don't die).
Conversely, what happens if I place two unrelated species in a place where selection pressures are the same?
faisalabdul16
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Divergent evolution occurs as a consequence of adaptive radiation and isolation. Divergent evolution occurs over geological time when isolated populations of one ancestral species change over time, to produce new features and characteristics that allow them to survive and reproduce under the particular selective pressures. These changed species are no longer able to interbreed into the original population. A great example of this is Darwin's finches, selective pressures were primarily concerned with food, and how different species of the bird developed different sized and shaped beaks that allows them to easily extract food from their particular environment.
Convergent evolution occurs over geological time when natural selection acts on distantly unrelated species producing superficial similarities, not because of a common ancestry, but a similar way of life. For example the shark and dolphin are not related, but convergent evolution has resulted in both of these animals acquiring streamlined bodies in order to manoeuvre through the water quickly and swiftly.
Convergent evolution occurs over geological time when natural selection acts on distantly unrelated species producing superficial similarities, not because of a common ancestry, but a similar way of life. For example the shark and dolphin are not related, but convergent evolution has resulted in both of these animals acquiring streamlined bodies in order to manoeuvre through the water quickly and swiftly.