Required information for all the questions: A few scarlet flycatchers colonize an island from another nearby island. Research has shown that the parent island is hotter and drier than the new island. Over many generations, the flycatchers diverge between the two islands and become reproductively isolated.
Q1: CLARIFY QUESTION: What best characterizes a species? CHOOSE THE BEST THREE A species is best characterized by
Check all that apply:
a- its existence in a particular region and habitat
b- a distinct set of morphological and behavioral traits.
c- reproductive isolation.
d- a broad set of traits that adapt quickly to environmental changes
e- a unique evolutionary history.
Q2: What type of thinking is most required to answer this question?
The type of thinking you most need to correctly answer this question requires you to
a- take what you already know about speciation and use, or apply, that knowledge to determine what might happen to geographically isolated scarlet flycatchers exposed to a new wetter environment.
b- break down, or analyze, how scarlet flycatchers produce offspring on both islands.
c- weigh and judge, or evaluate, whether the hotter island or wetter island is a better habitat for scarlet flycatchers.
Q3: What is genetic drift and how does it work?
Genetic drift is the variation in the relative allele frequency in a population due to the random loss of genes from the population as individuals die or fail to reproduce. Genetic drift will tend to have the largest effect in populations that are small.
Q4: When does gene flow occur in populations?
Gene flow in a population takes place when individuals
a- stay within a population and breed successfully.
b- create a new population that is selected against.
c- migrate from one population to another, resulting in a mixing of genes.
d- move from one location to another within the same population.
Q6: GATHER CONTENT: Which events could affect speciation on the new island?
Scarlet flycatchers that move from one island where they are currently adapted to a new, wetter, island would
a- create a new species shortly after arriving at the new island.
b- be able to easily mix their genes with other bird species on the new island.
c- become a new species once they are reproductively isolated from the original bird population.
d- be able to outcompete other bird species due to natural selection for new genes.
Q7: CONSIDER POSSIBILITIES: How would genetic hybrid fitness compare to flycatcher populations that adapted to the wet and dry island habitats on separate islands?
A flycatcher genetic hybrid would be likely to have lower fitness as flycatchers that were completely adapted to the wet and dry island environments. In this case, a hybrid would likely be at a genetic disadvantage due to natural selection against flycatchers in the wet and dry environments that exist on separate islands.