2.

Biogeography:
Biogeography is the study of the distribution
of organisms on earth.
Biogeography is based on the principal that
each plant and animal species originated only once,
this place is called the origin.
1.

Closely related animals in different geographic

locations probably had no barrier to dispersal in the
past.

2.

The most effective way to dispersal for land animals

was the sea.

3.

The discontinuous distribution of modern species

may be explained by movements out of the area
they originally occupied or by extinction.
The distribution of species around the world
suggests that modern populations
evolved from ancestral populations and radiated out
into new environments. Example 1-the
distribution of waratahs:
There are three different genera of waratahs
around the world.
One type grows in the South American
forests, another is distributed on both sides of the
pacific (New Guinea and north eastern Australia, Peru
and Ecuador) and the third type is found in eastern
Australia and Tasmania.

The present day distribution of these closely

related species in the eastern parts of Australia and
New Guinea and western parts of South America
suggests that the two regions may have been
connected in the past and were separated by the
opening of the pacific ocean.
Example 2- large flightless birds are found in
Australia (Emu), Africa (Ostrich) and south America
(Reah)
These three land masses were once
connected as part of Gondwana. All of these birds
share similarities suggesting a common ancestor.
The appearance of similar organisms on
different continents that had been previously
connected can best be explained by suggesting that
they originated from a common ancestor that existed
when the land masses were joined.
3.ComparativeEmbryology:
This is the study of embryo development of
different species.
An analysis of the development stages of
embryos shows relationships between different
classification groups and shows evolutionary
relationships.
Example:
The early stage vertebrate embryos are
similar as they have gill slits and tails with distinct
muscle blocks. The fish are the only group to retain

the gill slits as adults.

This suggests that these vertebrates (fish,
amphibians, reptiles, birds and humans) are all
descendants of a common ancestor. The presence of
gill slits suggests the common ancestor of vertebrate
lived in an aquatic environment.