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Adaptive radiation is not a strictly vertebrate phenomenon, and examples are also known from among plants. The most famous example of adaptive radiation in plants is quite possibly the Hawaiian silverswords , named for alpine desert-dwelling Argyroxiphium species with long, silvery leaves that live for up to 20 years before growing a single ...
Anole lizards, with populations on isolated islands, are one of the best examples of both adaptive radiation and convergent evolution. Anoles on a given island evolve into multiple body types and ecological preferences, and the same set of body types appears in unrelated species across distant islands. [93]
Examples of divergence in nature are the adaptive radiation of the finches of the Galápagos, changes in mobbing behavior of the kittiwake, and the evolution of the modern-day dog from the wolf. The term can also be applied in molecular evolution , such as to proteins that derive from homologous genes.
The brain: For example, Broca's area, a small section of the human brain, has a critical role in linguistic capability. Hormones: Chemicals used to communicate among cells of an individual organism. Testosterone, for instance, stimulates aggressive behaviour in a number of species.
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity that is caused by elevated rates of speciation, [1] that may or may not be associated with an increase in morphological disparity. [2] A significantly large and diverse radiation within a relatively short geologic time scale (e.g. a period or epoch) is often referred to as an ...
Phenotypic plasticity refers to some of the changes in an organism's behavior, morphology and physiology in response to a unique environment. [1] [2] Fundamental to the way in which organisms cope with environmental variation, phenotypic plasticity encompasses all types of environmentally induced changes (e.g. morphological, physiological, behavioural, phenological) that may or may not be ...
The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are analogous , whereas homologous structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions.
Ape skeletons. A display at the Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge.From left to right: Bornean orangutan, two western gorillas, chimpanzee, human. The evolution of human bipedalism, which began in primates approximately four million years ago, [1] or as early as seven million years ago with Sahelanthropus, [2] [3] or approximately twelve million years ago with Danuvius guggenmosi, has ...