Question

Populations are said to be sympatric when ......

• A. Two populations live together and freely interbreed to produce sterile offspring.
• B. Two populations are physically isolated by natural barriers.
• C. Two populations are isolated but occasionally come together to interbreed.
• D. Two populations share the same environment but cannot interbreed.

Answer 1

The correct option is D Two populations share the same environment but cannot interbreed.

Sympatric organisms are those living in same geographical area.

Allopatric organisms live in different geographical areas.

Species boundary depends on reproductive isolation. Thus if two populations share same geographical area but cannot interbreed, the populations belong to two separate sympatric species

So, the correct answer is 'Two populations share the same environment but cannot interbreed'