Question

Lake Victoria is home to hundreds of species of cichlids, a brightly colored variety of freshwater fish commonly kept as an aquarium pet. Each species has slightly different diets, behaviors, and habitats within the lake.
These fishes likely diverged from a common ancestor as the result of

• A. Sexual selection
• B. Convergent evolution
• C. Genetic drift
• D. Gene flow
• E. Isolation

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

Convergent evolution

A. Sexual selection is an evolutionary model that explains the selection of mates by organisms.

B. Convergent evolution is a process during which organisms with different evolutionary history evolve similar phenotypic adaptations in response to common environmental conditions.

C. Genetic drift is a random change in allele frequencies over the generation. In small populations frequencies of particular alleles may change drastically by chance alone. Such changes occur randomly as if frequencies were drifting and thus, are known as genetic drift.

D. Gene flow is the movement of alleles from one population to another, as a result of interbreeding between the members of two populations.

E. Isolation is condition when an organism is in the state of being isolated.

Hence the species that have slightly different diets, behaviours, and habitats within the lake, diverged from a common ancestor as a result of Convergent evolution.

So, the correct answer is 'Convergent evolution'.