Question

What factors contribute to adaptive radiation?

Answer 1

Adaptive Radiation:

1. It is a form of evolutionary speciation that leads to the formation of new species.
2. It occurs when an ancestral species evolves rapidly and diversifies into various different species.
3. For example, the evolution of Darwin’s finches, and Australian Marsupials.

Factors that contribute to adaptive radiation are as follows:

1. New ecological opportunities: The presence of new ecological oppurtunities provides novel habitats and new environmental oppurtunities that modify their characteristics and diversify them into a new species.
2. Mass extinction: Following a mass extinction, only a few individuals survive that undergo further evolutionary chnages and lead to the formation of new species.
3. New evolutionary traits: With evolution, organisms develop new traits that allow better survival as they allow them to to adapt to the changing environment.