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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 ...
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 ...
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. [91]
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.
An eco-evolutionary framework has been used to explore multiple aspects of stickleback biology. Notably, this research has focused on how populations of three-spined stickleback have diverged to occupy different ecological niches (a process called adaptive radiation) and how sticklebacks have coevolved with their parasites. [49] [50]
This is a list of adaptive radiated marsupials by form; they are adaptively radiated marsupial species equivalent to the many niche-types of non-marsupial mammals. Many of the surviving species are from Australia. There are unique types, for example the extinct genus Nototherium, a 'rhinoceros-type'. [1]
All Hawaiian tarweeds trace their lineage back to a species of Pacific coast tarweed, very similar to extant species like Carlquistia muirii. [12] The last common ancestor of the silversword alliance was likely a mat and rhizome forming plant not more than .3 metres (0.98 ft) tall, with a chromosome number of 2n = 16, and perhaps another similar species.
A key innovation may allow a species to invade a new region or niche and thus be freed from competition, allowing subsequent speciation and radiation. A classic example of this is the fourth cusp of mammalian molars, the hypocone, which allowed early mammalian ancestors to effectively digest their generalised diet. The precursors to this, the ...