Name: Adaptive Radiation
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 6 min 34 s
Description: Adaptive radiation occurs when a species is confined to an isolated region and adapts to its new habitat, raising multiple diverse species from a single comm...

Question

What do you understand by adaptive radiation? Explain it with suitable examples.

Accepted Answer

Adaptive radiation is a rapid evolution of species with a single common ancestor. It is characterised by a significant ecological and morphological diversity. Adaptation of organisms to new ecological contexts drives this radiation. This means it occurs when an organism enters a new area, and different traits affect its survival.

One classic example of adaptive radiation is Darwin's finches of the Galapagos island. On various islands, finch species have become adapted for different diets, such as seeds, insects, flowers, the blood of seabirds, and leaves. The ancestral finches were ground-dwelling, seed-eating finch. But after the burst of speciation in the Galapagos, a total of 14 species developed: three species of ground-dwelling seed-eaters; three others living on cacti and eating seeds; one living in trees and eating seeds; and 7 species of tree-dwelling insect-eaters.

What do you understand by adaptive radiation? Explain it with suitable examples.

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