Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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. [91]
Examples of speciation come from the observations of island biogeography and the process of adaptive radiation, both explained previously. Evidence of common descent can also be found through paleontological studies of speciation within geologic strata.
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 ...
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.
For example, Darwin observed that orchids and insects have a close relationship that allows the pollination of the plants. He noted that orchids have a variety of structures that attract insects, so that pollen from the flowers gets stuck to the insects' bodies. In this way, insects transport the pollen from a male to a female orchid.
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.
Thirdly, it is a phenotypic trait or adaptive trait, with a functional role in each individual organism, that is maintained and has evolved through natural selection. Historically, adaptation has been described from the time of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Aristotle .