Chapter 9 Biology 11

CHAPTER Evolution and Speciation
9
Specific Expectations
In this chapter you will learn how to . . .
• C1.2 evaluate the possible impact
of an environmental change on
natural selection and on the
vulnerability of species (9.1, 9.2)
• C2.1 use appropriate

terminology related to
evolution (9.1, 9.2)
• C2.2 use a research process

to investigate some of the
key factors that affect the
evolutionary process (9.2)
• C2.3 analyze, on the basis

of research, and report on
the contributions of various
scientists to modern
theories of evolution (9.2)
• C3.3 define the concept of speciation,

and explain the process by which new
species are formed (9.1, 9.2)
• C3.4 describe some evolutionary

mechanisms, and explain how they
affect the evolutionary development
and extinction of various species
(9.1, 9.2)
When Charles Darwin first observed the marine iguana

(Amblyrhynchus cristatus), he was impressed by its ability to
swim. In his journal from the Beagle voyage he wrote that the
iguana swims “with perfect ease and quickness, by a serpentine
movement of its body and flattened tail.”
Only on the Galapagos Islands are populations of this single
species of swimming iguana found. What evolutionary processes
led to this animal’s unique appearance and swimming ability?
How can geographic isolation, as on an island, lead to the
formation of a new species? What other events and mechanisms
cause changes in species at the genetic level? These are questions
that you will explore in this chapter.
348 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Launch Activity
A Feathery Tale
The greater sage grouse lives on the prairies of Canada and the
United States. During mating season, groups of these ground-dwelling
birds gather at breeding areas, where the males strut across bare ground
in full view of the females. The males display their tail feathers and inflate
their yellow air sacs, which are otherwise concealed under white chest
feathers. Which males do the females choose? How does the selection
of mates affect the next generation?
Materials
• paper silhouette of a greater sage grouse • coloured markers
• paper tail feathers of different lengths • stapler or clear tape
• paper air sacs of different colours
Procedure
1. Your teacher will give you a choice of a paper silhouette of a greater
sage grouse. You will also choose 5 to 10 paper tail feathers and a pair
of paper air sacs. Use a marker to add markings to the tail feathers.
Attach the tail feathers and air sacs to the silhouette.
2. Hold up your model bird so the other students can see it. At the same
time, observe your classmates’ model birds. Notice the variations
among the model birds.
3. Your teacher will announce which greater sage grouses will reproduce
and pass on their traits to the next generation.
Questions
1. Identify three variations among the tail feathers and air sacs that
you observed.
2. In step 3, what determined which male birds will reproduce?
Which gender—male or female—influenced this more? What will
the next generation of male birds look like?
3. In this activity, the selection of mates was based on two traits.
In nature, many traits and other factors influence mate selection.
Suggest three traits (not necessarily obvious to the human eye)
that female greater sage grouse might use to select a mate.
4. Some of the male birds in this activity did not mate and pass on
their genes to the next generation. Explain how that could be both
an advantage and a disadvantage to the next generation.
Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 349

SECTION
Mechanisms of Evolution and
9.1 Their Effect on Populations
Key Terms Genetic variation of individuals within a population makes evolution possible. In species
that reproduce sexually, each individual inherits a new combination of alleles from that
gene flow
individual’s parents. As a result, each new generation is made up of genetically unique
non-random mating
individuals. In addition, new mutations occur randomly in each generation, providing
genetic drift the potential for new traits to develop. Although genetic variation in a population
founder effect occurs randomly, natural selection acts upon that variation in a non-random way.
bottleneck effect Individuals with genes that help them survive will reproduce, allowing them to pass
stabilizing selection along those genes to offspring and increase those genes’ percentage in the population.
directional selection Individual organisms do not evolve. Populations do. Thus, to study the evolutionary
disruptive selection process, you must focus on changes that occur within populations. The gene pool of a
sexual selection population consists of all the alleles of all genes of each individual in that population
(Section 1.4). The percentage of each allele of any given gene present in the population
determines the genetic characteristics of that population. For example, the coat colour
of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) in many populations has a grey appearance, which
accounts for the wolf ’s common name. However, in far northern populations, alleles
that produce a white coat colour predominate (“win out”). Some forest populations of
wolves also have a high percentage of alleles that produce a black coat colour.
Factors That Change Allele Frequencies in Populations

Changing percentages, or frequencies, of alleles within populations are the small events
that lead to evolution within a population, or microevolution. (Allele frequencies
are the number of copies of an allele compared to the total number of alleles in a
population.) When the frequency of an allele in a population changes, microevolution
has occurred. Table 9.1 lists the five common factors that lead to such changes. Each of
these will be discussed further in this section. Note that the last of these factors, natural
selection, is the most significant factor in the formation of new species. This kind of
event, called speciation, will be discussed in Section 9.2.
Table 9.1 Factors That Cause Evolutionary Change
Factor Description and Effect
Mutation Description: Mutation randomly introduces new alleles into a population.
Effect: Mutation changes allele frequencies.
Gene flow (migration) Description: Gene flow occurs between two different interbreeding
populations that have different allele frequencies.
Effect: Gene flow may change allele frequencies in either or both
populations through a “flow,” or movement, of genes (alleles).
Non-random mating Description: During non-random mating, individuals in a population
select mates, often on the basis of their phenotypes.
Effect: Non-random mating increases the proportion of homozygous
individuals in a population, but does not affect the frequencies of alleles.
Genetic drift Description: Genetic drift refers to random change in genetic variation
from generation to generation due to chance.
Effect: Genetic drift changes frequencies of alleles.
Natural selection Description: Natural selection is the result of the environment selecting
for individuals in a population with certain traits that make them better
suited to survive and reproduce than others in the population.
Effect: Over many generations, frequencies of alleles of many different
genes may change, resulting in significant changes in the characteristics of
a population.

Mutations
Recall from your studies of genetics and from Chapter 7 that a mutation is a change
that occurs in the DNA of an individual, and that a heritable mutation has the potential
to affect an entire gene pool. The more genetic variation there is in a population,
the greater the diversity of the population and the greater the chance of a selective
advantage to some individuals in a changing environment.
The poison resistance in the Norway rat is an example of a selective advantage. The
compound warfarin has been widely used to control rat populations since the 1950s.
Warfarin is a blood thinner, which means that it prevents the blood from clotting. But
warfarin can cause internal bleeding. Before warfarin was introduced as a rat poison,
it is likely that a few rats already had a mutation that made them resistant to warfarin’s
effects. These rats survived applications of warfarin, mated, and passed on the mutation
for warfarin resistance to their offspring. By the 1960s, there were many warfarin-
resistant rat populations in Europe.
Gene Flow
Gene flow, modelled in Figure 9.1, describes the net movement of alleles from one
gene flow the net
population to another as a result of the migration of individuals. For example, grey movement of alleles
wolves, such as the one shown in Figure 9.2, have large territories. A lone grey wolf from one population
may travel over 800 km in search of a new territory or breeding partner. Very often, to another due to the
a grey wolf from one population will mate with a member of a nearby population, migration of individuals
bringing new alleles into the gene pool of the nearby population. As a result, genetic
diversity in the nearby population may increase. Having greater genetic diversity may
help the population survive because such diversity is the raw material on which natural
selection acts.
gene flow
Population A Population B
Figure 9.1 Through gene flow, modelled here, genetic information is exchanged between
individuals of different populations.
Figure 9.2 Gene flow between grey wolf populations is quite common. Individuals travel long
distances and may join or otherwise interact with members of other populations.
Infer Why might scientists have difficulty defining distinct grey wolf populations in North America?

Non-random Mating
Non-random mating is mating among individuals on the basis of mate selection for
non-random mating
mating among a particular phenotype or due to inbreeding. In contrast, random mating is much like
individuals on the basis a draw in which breeding partners are randomly selected by drawing names out of a
of mate selection for a hat. If mating is random, there is no way to predict which males will mate with which
particular phenotype or females, or which females will mate with which males. The likelihood of any individual
due to inbreeding
with a specific genotype mating with another individual with a specific genotype
depends on the allele distribution in the population.
Non-random Mating: Preferred Phenotypes

In animal populations, individuals may choose mates based on their physical and
behavioural traits—their phenotypes. Female greater sage grouse, for example, choose
mates based on their phenotypes. In herds of caribou (Rangifer tarandus), males
compete for mates by using their antlers to spar against other males, chasing one
another and fighting, as shown in Figure 9.3. This is a form of non-random mating
because it prevents individuals with particular phenotypes from breeding. Only the
individuals that mate will contribute to the gene pool of the next generation.
Figure 9.3 The male caribou spar with each other to be able to mate with a female in the herd.
Infer How will non-random mating in caribou cause changes in the gene pool? Explain
your answer.
Learning Check
1. When discussing evolution, explain why it is reducing genetic differences among many
necessary to keep in mind that populations evolve, populations of the same species?
not individuals. 5. Use a labelled diagram to show gene flow between
2. Explain why mutations may provide a selective two populations of eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus
advantage to some individuals of a population in a carolinensis).
changing environment. 6. Describe how non-random mating differs from
3. Explain what is meant by the term “allele frequency.” random mating. Use the concept of preferred
4. Why does gene flow increase diversity in one phenotypes to explain why random mating in nature
population of a species while at the same time is uncommon.

Non-random Mating: Inbreeding
Inbreeding occurs when closely related individuals breed together. An extreme example
of inbreeding is the self-fertilization of some flowers, such as the one shown in Figure 9.4.
But close relatives share similar genotypes, so inbreeding increases the frequency of
homozygous genotypes. Inbreeding does not directly affect the distribution of alleles.
However, as homozygous genotypes become more common, harmful recessive alleles
are more likely to be expressed.
petals
anther
stigma
Figure 9.4 Pea flowers include both male and female reproductive structures. The advantage to
the pea plant is that self-fertilization takes place if the plant is not able to reproduce sexually via,
for example, the action of a pollinating insect.
The negative effects of inbreeding are sometimes seen in purebred farm animals
and pets, such as the shar-pei dog shown in Figure 9.5. Purebred animals tend to have
a higher incidence of deformities and health problems compared with non-purebred
animals. For some purebred animals, fertility rates are very low and offspring die at a
young age.
Figure 9.5 The shar-pei dog breed originated in China more than 2000 years ago. An inherited
genetic mutation—enhanced through inbreeding—increases the production of hyaluronic acid.
The overproduction of hyaluronic acid contributes to a skin disorder called mucinosis. The
consequence is an excessive build-up of mucin, which accumulates under the skin and
produces wrinkles.

Genetic Drift
In small populations, the frequencies of certain alleles can be changed by chance alone.
genetic drift the
change in frequencies This is called genetic drift. For example, imagine flipping a coin. Each time you flip
of alleles due to chance the coin, you have a 50-50 chance of the coin landing heads or tails. In a large sample
events in a breeding size involving 1000 flips, for example, you would expect the number of heads and tails
population you get to be fairly close. You would not expect widely differing results, such as flipping
heads 700 times and tails 300 times. However, in a small sample size, say involving
10 flips of a coin, getting heads 7 times and tails 3 times would not be unusual. The
smaller the sample size, the greater the uncertainty of your results.
In nature, sample size can greatly affect the gene pool of a population. The smaller
the population, the less likely it is that the parent gene pool will be reflected in the next
generation. In a large population, however, there is a better chance that the parent gene
pool will be reflected in future generations.
Figure 9.6 shows how genetic drift can occur in a small population, with rapid
and significant results. In any population, a few individuals in each generation will
not reproduce. This failure to reproduce on the part of a few individuals intensifies
the effects of genetic drift. For example, in the first generation of the roses shown in
Figure 9.6, only four plants produce seeds that give rise to fertile offspring. In such a
small population, the allele frequencies shift in the second generation. Allele frequencies
change again in the third generation, when only two plants from the second generation
give rise to fertile offspring. In this case, genetic drift has reduced variation because one
allele was lost (it “drifted” out of the population), and the other allele became fixed in
the population. By the third generation, only mutation or migration could produce new
variation through the introduction of new alleles.
Figure 9.6 In each Genetic Drift in Roses

generation, only some of
the plants in this population
reproduce. When the light AA *Aa AA
pink (aa) and heterozygous Aa AA
roses (Aa) in the second
generation did not Aa *aa
*AA aa *Aa
reproduce, the allele for
light pink petals was lost First Generation 4* plants reproduce
from the gene pool.
Aa
aa
*AA AA
aa Aa
aa
Aa Aa
*AA
Second Generation 2* plants reproduce
AA
AA AA AA AA
AA AA
AA
AA AA
Third Generation
Most natural populations are large enough that the effects of genetic drift are
small. However, two situations can lead to significant genetic drift. These situations
involve what is known as “the founder effect,” the founding of new colonies by a few
individuals, and what is known as a “population bottleneck.”

Genetic Drift: The Founder Effect
Often, new populations are formed by only a few individuals, or founders. For example,
founder effect a
strong winds may carry a single, pregnant fruit fly to a previously unpopulated island, change in a gene pool
where the fruit fly and her offspring may found a new colony. These founders will carry that occurs when a few
some, but not all, of the alleles from the original population’s gene pool. Therefore, individuals start a new
diversity in the new gene pool will be limited. Furthermore, the founders may not isolated population
be typical of the population they came from, so previously rare alleles may increase
in frequency. The gene pool change that occurs when a few individuals start a new,
isolated population is called the founder effect. The founder effect occurs frequently
on islands, and probably occurred when various plants, insects, birds, and reptiles first
colonized the Hawaiian and Galapagos Islands.
The founder effect also occurs in human populations, and the lack of genetic
diversity in these populations can be a medical concern. Due to the founder effect,
the incidence of inherited health conditions in these populations is much higher
than average. The Amish population of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for example, was
founded in the 1700s by only a few families. The current population of Amish in the
region has an unusually high frequency of polydactylism, which is the presence of a
sixth finger or toe (see Figure 9.7).
Genetic Drift: The Bottleneck Effect Figure 9.7 Polydactylism is

a genetic characteristic
Starvation, disease, human activities, and natural disasters such as severe weather can
in which a sixth finger or
quickly reduce the size of a large population. Since the survivors likely have only a toe grows.
fraction of the alleles that were present before the population declined, the gene pool
has lost diversity. Gene pool change that results from a rapid decrease in population
size is known as the bottleneck effect and is modelled in Figure 9.8. An example of
the bottleneck effect can be seen in the human population of a small island called
Pingelap in the Pacific Ocean. Pingelap is part of Micronesia. In 1775, a typhoon bottleneck effect
devastated Pingelap. There were fewer than 30 survivors from an original population of changes in gene
about 1600. One of the survivors carried a genetic mutation that causes colour vision distribution that result
from a rapid decrease in
deficiency. The current population of the island traces its ancestry back to this person—
population size
up to about 10 percent of the current population have colour vision deficiency. In the
general population, this condition is relatively rare.
Figure 9.8 In this model,

the parent population has
equal numbers of green
and yellow individuals
and a few red. A chance
catastrophe leaves mostly
green survivors with a few
Parent population Bottleneck Surviving individuals Next generation yellow and no red. The next
(drastic reduction
in population)
generation is mostly green,
with a few yellow.
The bottleneck effect is often seen in species driven to the edge of extinction. For
example, by the 1890s, overhunting had reduced the number of northern elephant
seals (Mirounga angustirostris) to as few as 20. Today, there are tens of thousands of
these seals. However, due to the bottleneck effect followed by genetic drift, their genetic
diversity is very low.

Learning Check
7. Explain why inbreeding is a form of non-random 10. What is the bottleneck effect?
mating. 11. Describe the impact of the founder effect on the
8. Why are small populations more susceptible to gene pool of a population.
genetic drift than large populations? 12. Describe two events that might result in the
9. What is the founder effect? bottleneck effect.
Natural Selection
Populations have a wide range of phenotypes and genotypes, and some individuals in
a population produce more offspring than others. Selective forces such as competition
and predation affect populations. As a result, some individuals are more likely to
survive and reproduce than others. If having a single allele gives even a slight, yet
consistent, selective advantage, the frequency of the allele in the population will
increase from one generation to the next at the expense of less favourable alleles.
There is a greater chance of an individual with the slightly favourable allele surviving,
producing, and passing this allele to offspring. Thus, natural selection causes changes
in the allele frequencies of a population, which can lead to evolutionary change.
Several types of natural selection affect the frequency of a heritable trait in a
population: stabilizing selection, directional selection, and disruptive selection. Refer to
Figure 9.9 as you read about the types of selection in the following paragraphs.
A Stabilizing selection B Directional selection C Disruptive selection

Number of Individuals
0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125

Body Size (g) Body Size (g) Body Size (g)
Selection for mid-size individuals Selection for larger individuals Selection for small and large individuals
Distribution Peak shifts Two peaks form

gets narrower
0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125

Body Size (g) Body Size (g) Body Size (g)
Figure 9.9 These graphs show three types of natural selection. The top panels show the
populations before selection has occurred (under the solid blue line). Within the populations,
individuals favoured by selection are shown in light brown. The bottom panels show what the
populations would look like in the next generation. The blue dashed lines show the original
distribution of the population. The dark brown solid lines show the resulting distribution in
the next generation.

Stabilizing Selection
Figure 9.9 (A) shows stabilizing selection. Stabilizing selection favours an intermediate
stabilizing selection
phenotype and acts against extreme variants of the phenotype. The most common natural selection that
phenotype—the intermediate form—is made more common in the population by favours intermediate
removing the extreme forms. This type of selection reduces variation and improves the phenotypes and acts
adaptation of the population to aspects of the environment that remain fairly constant. against extreme variants
directional selection
natural selection that
Directional Selection
favours the phenotypes
Figure 9.9 (B) shows directional selection. Directional selection favours the phenotypes at one extreme over
at one extreme over the other. This type of selection is common during times of another, resulting in
environmental change or when a population migrates to a new habitat that has different the distribution curve
environmental conditions and niches to exploit. The changes in the coloration of of phenotypes shifting
in the direction of that
peppered moths that you read about in Chapter 7 is an example of directional selection. extreme
The increase of antibiotic resistance in infection-causing bacteria is another example. disruptive
(diversifying) selection
Disruptive Selection natural selection that
Figure 9.9 (C) shows disruptive selection, also called diversifying selection. Disruptive favours the extremes of
selection takes place when the extremes of a range of phenotypes are favoured over a range of phenotypes
rather than intermediate
intermediate phenotypes. As a result, intermediate phenotypes can be eliminated from phenotypes; this type
the population. An example of disruptive selection is the extreme size differences in of selection can result
mature male coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). The smaller phenotype of a mature in the elimination
coho salmon averages about 500 g, while the much larger phenotype may be 4500 g or of intermediate
phenotypes
more. This difference in size reflects the means by which each phenotype gains access
to females. The smaller salmon are specialized for “sneaking” opportunities to fertilize
the eggs of females, while the larger salmon are better equipped for fighting for the
same access to the female’s eggs.
Sexual Selection
The different phenotypes (forms) of the male coho salmon are also a specific example
sexual selection
of natural selection referred to as sexual selection. In general, sexual selection involves natural selection
competition between males through combat (as with the caribou in Figure 9.3) or through for mating based, in
visual displays (such as the showy feathers and inflated air sacs of the greater sage grouse general, on competition
in the Launch Activity). Sexual selection also involves the choices females make for mates. between males and
choices made by
Males and females of many animal species often have very different physical females
characteristics, such as colourful plumage in male birds and antlers in male deer. This
difference between males and females is called sexual dimorphism. Figure 9.10 shows
the striking differences between male and female mallard ducks. These different
characteristics, as well as courtship displays and other mating behaviours, are also
aspects of sexual selection.
Figure 9.10 Male mallard
ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)
are distinguished from
females by their green heads.
The coloration of females is
brown with white spots.

Identifying Types of Natural Selection
As you have read, different types of natural selection affect the frequency of a heritable
trait in a population: stabilizing selection, directional selection, and disruptive selection.
Try identifying the type of natural selection described in Activity 9.1 below.
Activity 9.1 Identify the Type of Selection
In this activity, you will interpret visual and graphical 2. The graphs show a representation of the changes that
information to identify the type of natural selection that is have occurred in this population of bentgrass over a
acting on a natural population. period of time. Examine these graphs, and use your
understanding of the three types of natural selection
Procedure to identify the type of selection that is acting on this
1. Read the following information about the growth bentgrass population.
characteristics of a particular population of a common
species of grass. Question
Explain how you decided on the type of selection that
you chose.
Colonial bentgrass (Agrostis tenuis) belongs to a genus of tolerance for the heavy metals and are able to grow on the
grasses that number about 200 known species worldwide. contaminated soil. However, these same alleles tend to
In some places, this species grows in soil that has been inhibit growth on uncontaminated soil. Sites with varying
contaminated from mining activities. High concentrations amounts of metal concentration support bentgrass
of copper, nickel, lead, and other heavy metals are present populations of both types. Therefore, there are sites
in the soil. where metal-resistant bentgrass growing on contaminated
In a population of bentgrass growing on contaminated soil is visible growing near non-metal-resistant bentgrass
soil in South Wales in the United Kingdom, random growing on uncontaminated soil. The illustration
mutations have produced alleles that are metal-resistant. summarizes this situation.
As a result, some members of the population show
A Growth of Agrostis tenuis on Agrostis tenuis

uncontaminated and contaminated soil
Uncontaminated soil
Plants on uncontaminated
soil do not usually carry
metal-resistant alleles.
Contaminated soil
Plants on contaminated
soil are likely to carry
metal-resistant alleles.
B Graphical representation of a type of selection

Starting population Population after selection
Metal sensitive Metal resistant Metal sensitive Metal resistant

Section 9.1 RE V IE W
Section Summary
• Gene flow is the movement, or flow, of alleles between • Genetic drift occurs more rapidly in small populations.
populations. It can result in the loss of alleles from a population and
• The sources of genetic variation in a population are an increase in the frequency of previously rare alleles.
mutations that are acted on by gene flow, non-random The founder and bottleneck effects are two examples.
mating, genetic drift, and, most importantly, natural • Natural selection is the process that produces adaptive
selection. When these mechanisms alter gene frequencies, changes within populations.
evolution has occurred. • When stabilizing selection occurs, an intermediate
• Gene flow due to migration of individuals can increase phenotype has an advantage. When directional selection
the genetic diversity of a population, but gene flow can occurs, an extreme phenotype increases in frequency in
also decrease the genetic diversity among populations of a population. When disruptive selection occurs, extreme
the same species. phenotypes survive in the population at the expense of
• Non-random mating increases the number of certain intermediate forms.
alleles because the phenotype produced by those alleles • Sexual selection, which is a type of natural selection,
is more attractive to the opposite sex. involves characteristics or behaviours that make it more
likely for individuals to choose a mate.
Review Questions
1. K/U How do mutations affect genetic variation? 7. C Explain what agent of evolutionary change the
2. K/U Explain why microevolution applies to diagram is modelling. Describe an example.
populations but not to individual organisms.
3. K/U Describe one effect of non-random mating in
sexually reproducing plants and one effect in animals.
4. C Use a graphic organizer such as a flowchart to
compare stabilizing, directional, and disruptive selection.
5. C Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast
the founder effect with the bottleneck effect. 8. A A population of deer is isolated in a park, and
the deer cannot mix with other populations. If this park
6. A DNA analysis of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus)
were connected to another park and the deer were able
shows little or no genetic variation among individuals.
to mix, what would happen to the gene pools of the two
This evidence suggests that their populations declined
populations? Use a diagram to support your answer.
sharply in the past, and that all the cheetahs alive today
are descendants of the survivors. 9. T/I Predict what might happen to the diversity of a
a. Explain why skin that is transplanted from one gene pool if individuals with rare alleles migrate from
cheetah to another is rejected only about 50 percent the population.
of the time. (Normally, skin that is transplanted from 10. K/U Describe the role of mutation in evolutionary
one individual of a species to another individual of changes within a population.
the same species is rejected 100 percent of the time, 11. T/I An imaginary population of mouse-like “meeps”
unless the two individuals are identical twins.) lives in tunnels under a vegetable garden, which is the
b. Which of the mechanisms that change allele source of their food. About 80 percent of the meeps have
frequencies in populations likely applies to green fur, and the rest have grey fur. One summer, a dust
cheetahs? (More than one mechanism may apply.) storm covers the garden with a coating of grey-brown
Explain your answer. soil. The people who tend the garden can now easily see
c. In what ways might the lack of genetic diversity in the green meeps and are better able to trap and remove
cheetahs put their populations at risk? Suggest a them humanely to protect their crops. Predict at least
human action that could be taken to increase the one outcome of this situation on the microevolution of
genetic diversity of cheetahs. this population of meeps as time passes. (Assume that
similar dust storms happen every few years.)

SECTION
Speciation: How Species Form
9.2
Key Terms The two zebras in Figure 9.11 look very similar, but they are different species. How is a
species defined? Historically, biologists defined species in terms of their physical form.
speciation
Physical similarity, however, does not necessarily mean that organisms are the same
pre-zygotic isolating
species. Biologists now consider physiology, biochemistry, behaviour, and genetics
mechanism when distinguishing one species from another.
post-zygotic isolating Recall from Section 1.1 that a biological species is a population or group of
mechanism populations in nature whose individual members can interbreed to produce viable,
sympatric speciation fertile offspring—offspring that also can interbreed. In Section 9.1, you learned that
allopatric speciation various factors cause changes within populations—that is, microevolution. When
ecological niche some members of a sexually reproducing population change so much that they are no
adaptive radiation longer able to produce viable, fertile offspring with members of the original population,
divergent evolution speciation has occurred. Speciation is the formation of new species from existing
convergent evolution species. The formation of new species is also sometimes called macroevolution.
gradualism
punctuated equilibrium A B
speciation the
formation of new species
from existing species
Figure 9.11 The Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) in (A) is classified as an endangered species,
whereas the plains zebra (Equus quagga) in (B) is widespread in Africa.
Explain If a Grevy’s zebra mated with a plains zebra, could the offspring be viable?
Two populations may become reproductively isolated over time (that is, become
two species) if there is little or no gene flow between them. Two types of reproductive
isolating mechanisms prevent gene flow between populations. As summarized in
Figure 9.12, these reproductive isolating mechanisms may be pre-zygotic or post-zygotic.
Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms
Pre-zygotic Post-zygotic
Figure 9.12 The types Prevention of Mating Prevention of Fertilization Prevention of Hybrids
of reproductive isolating
mechanisms are subdivided
further, as shown here. behavioural isolation mechanical isolation zygotic mortality
temporal isolation gametic isolation hybrid inviability
ecological/habitat hybrid infertility

isolation

Pre-zygotic Isolating Mechanisms
Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms (also called pre-fertilization barriers) either impede
pre-zygotic isolating
mating between species or prevent fertilization of the eggs if individuals from different mechanism a barrier
species attempt to mate. There are five kinds of pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms, that either impedes
described below. mating between species
or prevents fertilization
of the eggs if individuals
Behavioural Isolating Mechanisms
from different species
The songs of birds, the courtship rituals of elk, and the chemical signals (pheromones) attempt to mate; also
of insects are examples of behavioural isolation. Any special signals or behaviours that called pre-fertilization
are species specific prevent interbreeding with closely related species. Another example barrier
is the eastern meadowlark (Sturnella magna) and the western meadowlark (Sturnella
neglecta). These species are nearly identical in shape, coloration, and habitat, and their
habitat ranges overlap, as shown in Figure 9.13. In the area where the ranges overlap,
very little mating takes place between the two species, largely due to the differences
in their songs. The eastern meadowlark’s song is a simple series of whistles, typically
about four or five notes. The western meadowlark’s song is a longer series of flute-like
gurgling notes that go down the scale.
Figure 9.13 (A) The western

meadowlark and (B) the
eastern meadowlark are
very similar in appearance.
A Western meadowlark The red regions in this map
(Sturnella neglecta)
show where the two species’
North ranges overlap. However,
America
very little interspecies mating
takes place because of the
differences in their songs.
B Eastern meadowlark
(Sturnella magna)
Eastern meadowlark
Western meadowlark
Zone of overlap
Habitat Isolating Mechanisms

Two species may live in the same general region but in different habitats, so they may
encounter each other rarely, if at all. This mechanism is called habitat isolation. For
example, two species of North American garter snakes—the common garter snake
(Thamnophis sirtalis) and the northwest garter snake (Thamnophis ordinoides)—live
in the same area. However, the northwest garter snake prefers open areas such as
meadows and rarely enters water. The common garter snake, on the other hand, is
commonly found near water.
Temporal Isolating Mechanisms

Many species are kept separate by temporal (timing) barriers. For example, two species
may occupy the same habitat but mate or flower at different times of day, in different
seasons, or in different years. For example, three tropical orchid species in the genus
Dendrobium bloom for a single day, with the flowers opening at dawn and withering
in the evening. Flowering in all three species occurs in response to various stimuli in
the weather. However, the lapse between the stimulus and flowering is 8 days in one
species, 9 in another, and 10 in the third. Thus, the three species remain reproductively
isolated, even though they live in the same habitat.

Mechanical Isolating Mechanisms
Species that are closely related may attempt to mate but fail to achieve fertilization because
they are anatomically incompatible. For example, the genitals of some insects operate in
a kind of lock-and-key system. If a male and female of different species attempt to breed,
their genitals will not fit together. Genital anatomy is so distinctive in many organisms
(especially insects) that it is often used to classify species based on morphology.
In plants, variations in flower structure may impede pollination if the flower and
the pollinator are incompatible. In two species of sage, for example, the flowers have
different arrangements of male and female reproductive structures. One species is
pollinated by bees that carry pollen on their backs, and the other species is pollinated
by bees that carry pollen on their wings. If the “wrong” pollinator visits a flower,
pollination cannot occur because the pollen does not come into contact with the male
structure of the other species.
Gametic Isolating Mechanisms

If gametes (egg and sperm) from different species do meet, gametic isolation ensures
they will rarely fuse to form a zygote. The methods of gametic isolation vary among
species. For example, in species in which the eggs are fertilized within the female
reproductive tract, the sperm of one species may not be able to survive in the
environment of the female reproductive tract of another species. In plants, pollen
grains of one species typically fail to germinate on the stigma of another species, so
fertilization is prevented.
Activity 9.2 Leopard Frogs—One Species or Eight?
Leopard frogs were once believed to be a single, extremely Materials

variable species (Rana pipiens) that ranged across North • computer with Internet access • print resources
America. Analyzing frog calls provided one of the clues
that led biologists to realize that there was more than one Procedure
species of leopard frog. Today, scientists know that what 1. Listen to the calls of two different species of leopard frogs
they thought of as the leopard frog is actually at least eight supplied by your teacher. What type of biological barrier
different but related species. In this activity, you will explore is a mating call? Explain how this type of biological
a biological barrier by listening to frog calls. barrier keeps species separate.
A 2. Leopard frogs in North America include the northern,

southern, Rio Grande, plains, relict, Florida, Ramsey
Canyon, and lowland leopard frogs. Research two of
these species using Internet or print resources. Describe,
in point form, the differences that result in the two
species being regarded as a closely related but separate
species. (They are called sibling species.)
3. Populations of amphibians, including frogs, are declining
in North America, and scientists are tracking population
numbers to try to determine the cause of the decline.
B
When it comes to conservation and monitoring of species,
why is it important to know that there are eight species of
leopard frog rather than a single wide-ranging species?
Question
Populations of amphibians, including frogs, are declining
in North America, and scientists are tracking population
numbers to try to determine the cause of the decline. When
it comes to conservation and monitoring of species, why is
The (A) northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) and (B) Florida it important to know that there are eight species of leopard
leopard frog (Rana sphenocephala) are different species. frog rather than a single wide-ranging species?

Post-zygotic Isolating Mechanisms
In rare cases in nature, the sperm of one species successfully fertilizes an egg of another
post-zygotic isolating
species and a zygote is produced. There are several post-zygotic isolating mechanisms mechanism a barrier
(post-fertilization barriers) that prevent these hybrid zygotes from developing into that prevents hybrid
viable, fertile individuals. zygotes from developing
into viable, fertile
individuals; also called
Hybrid Inviability
post-fertilization barrier
Genetic incompatibility of the interbred species may stop development of the hybrid
zygote during its development. For example, hybrid embryos between sheep and goats
die in early development before birth. Hybrid inviability is usually due to genetic
incompatibility, which prevents normal mitosis after fusion of the nuclei in the gametes.
Hybrid Sterility
Sometimes, two species can mate and produce hybrid offspring. A familiar
example, shown in Figure 9.14, is a mule, which is the offspring of a horse and
a donkey. However, a reproductive barrier still exists between the two species
if the hybrid offspring is sterile, as in the case of a mule. If meiosis fails to
produce normal gametes in the hybrid (because the chromosomes of the two
parent species differ in number or structure), this barrier may come into effect.
Hybrid Breakdown
In some cases, the first-generation hybrids of crossed species are viable and fertile. Figure 9.14 A mule is the
However, when these hybrids mate with each other or with an individual from either offspring of a female horse
and a male donkey.
parent species, offspring of the next generation are either sterile or weak. For example,
different species of cotton plants can produce fertile hybrids, but the offspring of the
hybrids die as seeds or early in development.
Types of Speciation
Recall from Chapter 1 that a biological species is only one of several species concepts
that include the morphological and phylogenetic species concepts. Regardless of how
species are defined, the process of speciation requires populations of organisms to
become, and largely to remain, genetically isolated from one another.
There are two types of speciation, called sympatric and allopatric speciation, and
they are based on how gene flow is disrupted within a population. Sympatric speciation
enables populations that live in the same habitat to diverge genetically. Allopatric
speciation occurs when populations are separated by a geographical barrier and then
diverge genetically. These ideas are discussed starting on the next page.
Learning Check
13. Explain the meaning of the term biological species. 17. If the two zebra species shown in Figure 9.11 were
14. In a Venn diagram, compare the two types of found to mate in zoos but not in nature, would
reproductive isolating mechanisms. they still be considered different species? Explain
your answer.
15. If two species produce a hybrid offspring that is
infertile, is reproductive isolation between the two 18. Two species of birds overlap in range, but one lives
species still maintained? Explain your answer. in open woods and farmland, and the other lives in
swampy areas. What type of reproductive isolating
16. Two species of grass plants flower at different times
mechanism is this?
of year, but they live in the same habitat. What type
of reproductive isolating mechanism is this?

Sympatric Speciation
When populations live in the same geographical area and become reproductively
sympatric speciation
speciation in which isolated, sympatric speciation occurs. In sympatric speciation, factors such as
populations within the chromosomal changes (in plants) and non-random mating (in animals) alter gene flow.
same geographical areas This type of speciation is far more common in plants than in animals.
diverge and become Given the right set of conditions, a new species can be generated in a single
reproductively isolated
generation if a genetic change results in a reproductive barrier between the offspring
and the parent population. For example, errors in cell division that result in extra
sets of chromosomes (a mutant condition called polyploidy) can lead to speciation.
A polyploidy organism has three or more sets of chromosomes in the nucleus of each
of its cells. Most animals are diploid, with one set of chromosomes inherited from each
parent. It is rare for animals to be polyploid, but among plants—especially flowering
plants—it is quite common because many species are able to self-pollinate.
Recall that during meiosis, a sequence of events must occur for organisms to
reproduce successfully. As shown in Figure 9.15, if errors occur during meiosis and
chromosomes do not separate, the gametes produced have two sets of chromosomes
(diploid, 2n) instead of one set (haploid, 1n). Then, if two diploid gametes fuse, the
offspring have four of each chromosome (tetraploid, 4n). If tetraploid offspring survive,
they could undergo normal meiosis and produce diploid gametes. The plant can
now self-pollinate or reproduce with other tetraploids. However, it cannot produce
viable seeds when crossed with diploid plants from the original population, since
any offspring from this mating would be triploid (3n) and therefore sterile. In just
one generation, a reproductive barrier has been established in a population because
gene flow is interrupted between a small population (as small as one individual) of
tetraploids and the parent population.
In another model of sympatric speciation, two species can interbreed to produce a
sterile offspring. Although the offspring is infertile, it can reproduce asexually, resulting
in the formation of a separate population. Through mechanisms such as errors in
meiosis, the sterile hybrids can be transformed into fertile polyploids in subsequent
generations, thus forming a new, fertile species. This situation is responsible for the
evolution of wheat. Chromosome analysis has shown that wheat is the result of two
hybridizations of wheat with wild grasses, and two instances of meiotic error. As a
result, a new species—the wheat that has been used to make bread for 8000 years—
arose. Many other species grown for agriculture, including cotton, oats, and potatoes,
are also polyploids.
abnormal
gametes (2n)
new
polyploid
species
non-disjunction
zygote (4n)
normal meiosis
sterile plant
parent plant (2n)

meiosis begins
normal gametes (n) zygote (3n)
Figure 9.15 Polyploidy can lead to the formation of new species through sympatric speciation.

Allopatric Speciation
As shown in Figure 9.16, allopatric speciation occurs when a population is split into two
allopatric speciation
or more isolated groups by a geographical barrier. (Allopatric speciation is also called speciation in which
geographical speciation.) Eventually, the gene pool of the split population becomes a population is split
so distinct that the two groups are unable to interbreed even if they are brought back into two or more
together. Examples of geographical barriers that lead to allopatric speciation include isolated groups by a
geographical barrier;
a glacier or lava flow that isolates populations, fluctuations in ocean levels that turn a also called geographical
peninsula into an island, and a few colonizers reaching a geographically separate habitat. speciation
Once populations are reproductively isolated, allele frequencies in the two populations
can begin to diverge due to natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, and/or gene flow.
This geographical isolation of a population does not have to be maintained forever for
speciation to occur. However, it must be maintained long enough for the populations to
become reproductively incompatible before they are rejoined.
gene geographical barrier individual of individual of

flow population 2 species 1 species 2
Figure 9.16 Allopatric

speciation occurs after
population 1
a geographical barrier
variant variant geographical barrier prevents gene flow between
Reproductive isolation is
type type
present even though populations that originally
Two populations Gene flow is interrupted by Drift and selection cause geographical barrier
experience gene flow. geographical barrier. divergence between has been removed.
were part of a single species.
Variant types appear. isolated gene pools. Speciation is complete.
Generally, small populations that become isolated from the parent population
are more likely to change enough to become a new species. Part of the reason for
this is that populations usually become geographically isolated at the periphery, or
edges, of their range. It has been shown that groups of individuals at the periphery
of a population already have a slightly different gene pool than that of the parent
population. As a result, if this population splinters off, it is subject to the founder effect,
since it already has a gene pool not representative of the parent population. In addition,
until the peripheral population becomes large, it is subject to the effects of genetic drift.
Because of the smaller population size, new mutations or new combinations of alleles
may become fixed in the population simply by chance. This fixing of alleles would cause
the genotype and phenotype to diverge from those of the parent population.
In addition, because the isolated population may inhabit an environment that is
slightly different from that of the parent population, natural selection through selective
pressure may change the population in a different way. Note that isolated groups within
populations will not automatically survive and thrive when separated into a new
population. Many isolated populations do not last long enough or change enough to
become new species.
Learning Check
19. What is necessary in a population for the process of have been observed living on either side of the
speciation to occur? Grand Canyon, while different squirrel species live
20. Explain the main differences between sympatric and on opposite sides. In what way are the squirrels an
allopatric speciation. example of allopatric speciation?
21. Explain why sympatric speciation is more common 23. Why are smaller populations more likely to undergo
in plants than in animals. speciation compared with larger populations?
22. The Grand Canyon is about 6 km wide, 450 km 24. Will all isolated populations become new species?
long, and over 1.5 km deep. The same bird species Why or why not?

Darwin’s Finches: An Example of Allopatric Speciation
The population of finches being studied in the Galapagos is an example of speciation
ecological niche the
ecological role and “in action.” At some time in the past, members of the ancestral species reached one
physical distribution of the islands in the Galapagos, possibly as a result of being blown off course during a
of a species in its tropical storm. With no other land birds on this island, the ancestral finch species had
environment many unoccupied ecological niches to move into and adopt. During the time that this
occurred, individual finches were subjected to different types of selective pressures, and
some may have flown to nearby islands with still more unoccupied niches to adopt. As
a result, over time, the ancestral species divided into different populations, and some
of these evolved into new species—the species that now populate the many islands of
the Galapagos.
By observing the finches now present on the islands, measuring features such as
beak length, and analyzing the DNA of the birds, scientists have been able to develop
an evolutionary (phylogenetic) tree showing the descent of 14 species from one
common ancestor. The phylogenetic tree in Figure 9.17 shows some of these species.
The length of each branch of the tree reflects how much the DNA of the various species
has mutated from the group’s common ancestor. The phylogenetic tree shows how
the ancestral population initially gave rise to several groups of finches. DNA evidence
suggests that the warbler finches were an early offshoot, and ground finches and tree
finches diverged later. Over time, populations within each group specialized to use the
resources in their particular island habitats, and some of these populations eventually
diverged to form species with distinctive lifestyles. For instance, some specialized in
catching insects on the ground, and others specialized in catching insects in trees.
warbler finch woodpecker finch

(C. olivacea) (C. pallidus)
medium ground
finch (G. fortis)
small
sma
insectivorous
tree finch beaked
e ground
sharp-beaked g
(C. parvulus) finch (G. difficilis)
large insectivorous
tree finch
(C. psittacula)
large
ground finch
(G. magnirostris)
small
ground finch
(G. fuliginosa)
cactus ground finch
(G. conirostris)
vegetarian tree finch
(C. crassirostris)
warbler finches tree finches ground finches

Genus Certhidea Genus Camarhynchus Genus Geospiza
common ancestor
Figure 9.17 The common ancestor initially gave rise to several groups of finches. As time passed,
populations within different groups became geographically and reproductively isolated from
one another.

Adaptive Radiation
The speciation of finches throughout the Galapagos Islands is an example of adaptive
adaptive radiation
radiation. Adaptive radiation, a form of allopatric speciation, is the diversification of the diversification of
a common ancestral species into a variety of differently adapted species. Islands are a common ancestral
excellent places to study speciation, and biologists sometimes refer to them as living species into a variety
laboratories. Islands give organisms that have dispersed from a parent population the of differently adapted
species
opportunity to change in response to new environmental conditions in relative isolation.
The volcanic Hawaiian Islands are one of the best places in the world to study
evolution. The group of islands, or archipelago [ahr-ke-PEL-agoh], is about 3500 km
from the nearest continent, and the islands vary in age. When the islands first formed,
they had no life. Over time, they were gradually populated by species travelling by
ocean currents or by winds. Each island has different physical characteristics with many
exploitable niches, so adaptive radiation has resulted in great biodiversity. Most of the
thousands of species of animals and plants that live in the Hawaiian Islands are found
nowhere else in the world. For example, Hawaiian honeycreepers, members of the finch
family, are found only in Hawaii. About 28 species of honeycreepers are believed to
have evolved from ancestors that crossed the ocean from the American mainland about
five million years ago.
Adaptive radiation does not occur just on islands. In 1991, two biologists at the SuggestedInvestigation
University of British Columbia, Anna Lindholm and Craig Benkman, studied a
Inquiry Investigation 9-A,
particular type of finch, called a red crossbill, to demonstrate speciation. The twisted
Islands and Species
beak of the crossbill, shown in Figure 9.18, allows it to pry open closed conifer cones.
Different-sized birds open different-sized cones. Small-beaked crossbills feed mostly
on softer larch cones; birds with a medium-sized bill feed on harder spruce cones; and
heavy-beaked crossbills feed on tightly closed, very hard pine cones.
The beaks of seven birds, which specialize in eating the tightly closed cones of
western hemlock, were “uncrossed” by trimming them with nail clippers—a painless
procedure. The scientists observed that birds with clipped bills were as effective as
those with crossed bills at getting seeds from open cones. However, birds with clipped
bills could not open closed cones. As their bills grew back and began to cross again,
the birds gradually became better at opening the closed cones again.
The development of the crossed bill did not arise all at once. The crossed bill
changed gradually by selective pressure, one generation after the next, until the birds
were expert at opening tightly closed cones. The novelty of a crossed bill gave the
birds an advantage over others in the same habitat because it allowed them to eat
food no other bird could. Individuals with this variation were then able to radiate
into other habitats and niches, since they had perfected a feeding technique for
which they had no competitors.
Major episodes of adaptive radiation often occur
after the evolution of a novel characteristic. For example,
the evolution of limbs in vertebrates and wings in
insects opened up new possibilities for habitat and
food supplies. Insect wings resulted in the evolution of
hundreds of thousands of variations on the basic insect
body plan, making this group the most successful and
widespread type of animal on Earth.
Figure 9.18 The crossed bill of the red crossbill

(Loxia curvirostra) enables it to extract seeds from
even the most tightly closed of conifer cones.

Activity 9.3 Lake Victoria Cichlid Speciation
Lake Victoria, in the heart of equatorial Africa, is the largest • When and by what means do scientists think cichlids first
tropical lake in the world. The lake is home to hundreds entered Lake Victoria, and why do they think so?
of species of small, closely related fishes called cichlids • In what ways have food-related adaptations enabled
[SI-kleds]. Each species has features that make it unique from cichlids to occupy so many different niches?
other cichlid species in the lake, and none of these species
• How have selective pressures affected cichlids since the
is found anywhere else on Earth. What accounts for their
1950s?
incredible diversity?
Questions
Materials
1. Which method of speciation, sympatric or allopatric,
• computer with Internet access
likely accounts for cichlid diversity in this lake? What is
• print resources
the evidence?
Procedure 2. What has been the effect of human activity on cichlid
Do research to find out the following information diversity in Lake Victoria, and what is the current status
about Lake Victoria’s cichlids. of these fishes?
Nile River
Africa
scale scraper
leaf eater Lake
Victoria
snail eater fish eater
zooplankton eater
algae scraper
insect eater
Divergent and Convergent Evolution

divergent evolution The patterns of speciation discussed in the previous pages are examples of divergent
a pattern of evolution
evolution, a pattern of evolution in which species that were once similar to an
in which species that
were once similar to ancestral species diverge, or become increasingly distinct. Divergent evolution occurs
an ancestral species when populations change as they adapt to different environmental conditions. The
diverge, or become populations become less and less alike as they adapt, eventually resulting in two
increasingly distinct
different species.
convergent evolution In contrast, in some instances two unrelated species share similar traits. For
a pattern of evolution
in which similar example, both birds and bees have wings, yet they have different ancestors. In
traits arise because convergent evolution, similar traits arise because each species has independently
different species have adapted to similar environmental conditions, not because they share a common
independently adapted ancestor. Birds and bats evolved independently and at different times, yet natural
to similar environmental
selection favoured variations suitable for the same environment: air. Since they do not
conditions
share a common ancestor, however, birds and bats evolved quite different wings.

The Speed of Evolutionary Change
Figure 9.19 shows two models that attempt to explain the speed at which evolution
gradualism a model
occurs. Since Darwin’s time, evolutionary biologists have supported the model of of evolution that views
gradualism, which views evolutionary change as slow and steady, before and after a evolutionary change as
divergence. According to this model, big changes occur by the accumulation of many slow and steady, before
small changes. The fossil record, however, rarely reveals fossils that show this gradual and after a divergence
transition. Instead, paleontologists most often find species appearing suddenly in the punctuated
equilibrium a model
fossil record, and then disappearing from the record equally as suddenly. of evolution that views
In 1972, Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History and Stephen evolutionary history as
Jay Gould of Harvard University suggested an alternative model, which they called long periods of stasis,
punctuated equilibrium. According to this model, evolutionary history consists of or equilibrium, that are
interrupted by periods
long periods of stasis, or equilibrium, that are “punctuated,” or interrupted, by periods
of divergence
of divergence. Most species undergo much of their morphological change when they
first diverge from the parent species. After that, they change relatively little, even as
they give rise to other species. Given this model, the fossil record should consist mostly
of fossils from the long periods of time when little or no change occurred, with only a
few fossils from periods of rapid change.
It is now accepted that both models of evolutionary change are at work. While
many species have evolved rapidly during periods of Earth’s history, the fossil record
also shows very gradual change for some species over extended periods of time.
A B Figure 9.19 Two models

have been proposed
to explain the speed of
evolution: (A) gradualism
and (B) punctuated
equilibrium.
Time
Gradualism Punctuated equilibrium
Activity 9.4 Shaping the Theory
In Activity 8.1 in Chapter 8, you researched scientists who 2. Search further to find at least two more scientists who
influenced Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural have also made important contributions to the theory.
selection. In this activity, you will consider several scientists
3. Summarize your results with a timeline or graphic
since Darwin whose ideas have further shaped this theory.
organizer.
Materials
Question
• computer with Internet access
Which contributor do you consider the most valuable in
• print resources
helping you understand the modern theory of evolution?
Procedure Why?
1. Research how the following people have affected
the modern theory of evolution: George G. Simpson,
Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ernst Mayr, Niles Eldredge,
and Stephen J. Gould.

Learning Check
25. What is an ecological niche? 28. What is adaptive radiation?

26. Explain why it would have been possible for an 29. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast
ancestral finch species, having arrived on one of the divergent evolution and convergent evolution.
Galapagos Islands, to have diversified and evolved 30. Explain how the two models, gradualism and
into other species over time. punctuated equilibrium, are different from each
27. Why is the evolution of finches on the Galapagos other and yet both can be used to explain evolution
Islands an example of allopatric speciation? by natural selection.
Consequences of Human Activities on Speciation

Human activities can affect the genetic diversity of populations in various ways.
Habitats may become fragmented when people conduct activities such as the following:
• convert large stretches of wilderness into croplands
• develop wilderness areas for recreation or tourism
• build roads
• build urban subdivisions
• flood large areas of land to build dams for hydroelectric power generation
As with the geographic barriers that may lead to natural allopatric speciation
events, these human-made barriers may prevent gene flow between the split
populations. Over time, the isolated populations may undergo adaptive radiation
if their environments are very different. On the other hand, severely fragmented
populations may eventually die out if there is insufficient genetic diversity to permit
adaptation to particularly challenging environmental changes.
The giant panda, seen in Figure 9.20, is a large black and white bear that lives
in the bamboo forests of China. The giant panda eats only bamboo that grows at
altitudes between 500 m and 3100 m. But this habitat is being reduced through human
activities, such as agriculture, collecting medicinal herbs, harvesting bamboo, and the
development of roads and hydroelectric stations. Pandas are also being hunted illegally.
As a result, the remaining panda populations are in danger of going extinct.
A pair of breeding pandas needs a range of around
30 km2 to support them. However, many populations of
pandas are now isolated in small belts of bamboo forests as
narrow as 1.2 km wide. Panda populations are dependent
on conservation efforts to avoid extinction. Significant
work has been done. According to a survey, there were
over 2000 pandas in the wild in 2006, which is about
75 percent more than were thought to exist. In addition,
panda habitat conservation areas are increasing in size and
number, offering hope for natural populations.
Figure 9.20 Giant panda populations are under extreme pressure

from habitat loss. With their low reproductive rates and their total
dependence on bamboo for food, the giant panda has hovered
on the brink of extinction for several decades. Populations are
recovering and habitat is being preserved and protected, but the
future of the panda is still uncertain.

Human Activities and Population Decline
Unregulated hunting, habitat removal, and other human activities that cause
populations to decline abruptly can cause a bottleneck effect followed by genetic drift.
The sudden large-scale loss of genetic diversity results in inbreeding, which may cause
fertility rates to decline. Populations that lack genetic diversity are more susceptible
to new diseases and other environmental changes, too. For example, during the last
century, the chestnut blight fungus, an introduced species, destroyed populations of
the American chestnut tree. As a result, the current populations of American chestnut
trees have little genetic variation. Conservation and wildlife management programs
must take into account the processes affecting gene pools in order to ensure that wild
populations remain large enough and have sufficient genetic diversity to survive.
Speciation and Mass Extinctions

You have learned how species form, but how do species end, apart from the influence
of human activities? The environment is a strong influence on both speciation and
extinction. Environmental influences create selective pressure, and these influences
can be both positive and negative. In some cases, new species will arise. In other cases,
though, existing species go extinct.
Overall, biological diversity has increased since the Cambrian period, about 500
million years ago. While the general trend has been an increase in the number of
species, there have also been several sharp declines in the number of species. These are
known as mass extinction events. Five major mass extinctions have been identified,
as shown in Figure 9.21. The most severe one occurred at the end of the Permian
period, about 250 million years ago. At that time, more than 50 percent of all families,
representing about 96 percent of all species, are thought to have gone extinct.
Mass Extinction Events

0
Cretaceous
100
200 Triassic
Millions of Years Ago
Permian
300
Devonian
400
Ordovician
500
600
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Number of Families
Figure 9.21 The five major mass extinction events are labelled here. The vertical axis of the
graph begins about 600 million years ago to mark the approximate start of the Cambrian period.
The graph shows families of organisms, rather than individual species, because many species that
have been identified and named by scientists are known from only one discovered specimen.

Mass Extinction and Adaptive Radiation of Mammals
The Cretaceous extinction of 65 million years ago (Figure 9.21) marks the boundary
between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Recent scientific research supports the
hypothesis that this extinction event was triggered by the impact of a large asteroid.
This may have caused massive forest fires. As a result, huge amounts of particles
may have been thrown into the air, blocking the Sun for months. During this mass
extinction, more than half the existing marine species and many families of terrestrial
plants and animals, including the dinosaurs, were exterminated. The climate cooled
and the sea levels changed. While this event ended the age of the dinosaurs, it was a
catalyst for the adaptive radiation of mammals, which, until that time, were probably
not much larger than mice.
Although species diversity does come back after mass extinctions, it is not a rapid
recovery. Scientists estimate that it takes about 10 million years for species diversity to
reach its former levels.
Speciation: A Summary
One way to summarize how a new species can form is to take an example and
hypothesize its speciation using the concepts presented in this chapter. For example,
the tortoises on the individual islands in the Galapagos are all different. In fact, when
Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835, the vice-governor of the islands told
him that he could identify what island any tortoise was from simply by looking at it.
Figure 9.22 shows the conditions that may have resulted in the speciation of the various
tortoises in the Galapagos Islands.
Example of How a New Species Can Form
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Mutations occur
Natural selection
New species
es
can form
Microevolution
Adaptive radiation
Figure 9.22 This figure illustrates how the various mechanisms of speciation interact
to form a new species.

Section 9.2 RE V IE W
Section Summary
• A species consists of a reproductively compatible • Adaptive radiation, a form of allopatric speciation, occurs
population, and speciation is the formation of new when there is diversification from a common ancestor
species from previously existing species. into a variety of species.
• Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms either impede mating • In convergent evolution, similar traits arise because
between species or prevent fertilization of the egg. These each species is independently adapted to similar
mechanisms include behavioural, habitat, temporal, environmental conditions. In divergent evolution, a
mechanical, and gametic barriers. species that was once similar to an ancestral species
• Post-zygotic isolating mechanisms prevent hybrid zygotes diverges or becomes increasingly distinct.
from developing into viable, fertile individuals. • Gradualism proposes that evolution occurs slowly and
• In sympatric speciation, populations become steadily over time. Punctuated equilibrium proposes
reproductively isolated without geographical isolation. that evolution consists of long periods of equilibrium,
In allopatric speciation, populations are geographically interrupted by periods of speciation.
isolated and thus become reproductively isolated.
Review Questions
1. K/U What does reproductive isolation mean? 6. C Use the following table to compare the different
2. K/U Two species produce a hybrid offspring that is isolating mechanisms. Give your table a descriptive title.
infertile. Is reproductive isolation between the two Type of Isolating
species still maintained? Explain. Mechanism Description Example
3. T/I Severe flooding results in a river changing

course. Would you expect that a species of mouse that
now lives on both sides of the river might eventually 7. A Hedgehogs are porcupine-like rodents that are
become two different species? What about a species of native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Echidnas are
bird that now lives on both sides of the river? Explain. anteaters native to Australia. Both have spiny skins. Is
4. A One frog species lives only in tree holes, and this an example of divergent evolution? Explain.
another lives only in streams. Both live in the same 8. K/U List two ways that human activity can affect
area. Identify the reproductive barrier in this example. species and speciation, and explain how.
5. T/IInterpret the speciation of four of the Galapagos 9. C In a graphic organizer, distinguish between the
finches using this diagram. two models that describe the speed of evolution.
10. K/U What is a mass extinction?
11. A The Greater Antilles are a group of islands in the
warbler finch woodpecker finch
(C. olivacea) (C. pallidus)
medium ground Caribbean, which include Cuba, Dominican Republic,
finch (G. fortis)
Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Each island is home
small
sma
insectivorous to many lizard species that look very similar. DNA
tree finch sharp-beaked
ake ground
-beaked
(C. parvulus) finch (G. difficilis) analysis shows that the similar-looking lizards from
large insectivorous
tree finch different islands are not alike genetically. Explain this.
(C. psittacula)
large
ground finch 12. A Before they became extinct about 10 000 years
(G. magnirostris)
small ago, populations of a small horse (Equus conversidens)
ground finch
(G. fuliginosa) roamed North America. Suggest two hypotheses—one
cactus ground finch
vegetarian
egetariian tree finc
finch
(G. conirostris) due to natural activity and one due to human activity—
(C. crassirostris)
that could account for the extinction of this species.
warbler finches tree finches ground finches
Genus Certhidea Genus Camarhynchus Genus Geospiza 13. K/U How does adaptive radiation explain the
speciation of the red crossbill?
common ancestor

Inquiry 9-A
INVESTIGATION
Skill Check
✓
Initiating and Planning
Performing and Recording
Islands and Species
Suppose there is a small group of islands, off the west coast of South America,
✓ Analyzing and Interpreting
just below the equator. They are volcanic in origin and have existed for over five
✓ Communicating
million years. Five hundred thousand years ago, a single pair of rats, one male
and one female (that looked exactly like present-day rats), was washed off the
Materials main coast of South America. Clinging to a large tangle of logs, the rats drifted
• paper out to sea and came ashore on one of the volcanic islands. Over thousands of
• computer with Internet access years, the offspring of those rats colonized all the islands in the group. In this
• print resources investigation, you will design a rat that has adapted to one of
the islands.
• coloured pencils
Pre-Lab Questions
1. Define allopatric speciation.
2. Explain the process of adaptive radiation.
3. How are reproductive barriers important to speciation?
Question
What are the characteristics of the rat species living on your island, and how do
those characteristics reflect natural selection and adaptation?
Island A
The island is fairly flat, with an occasional hill. The ground is soft dirt, and
several species of shrubs grow toward the centre of the island. There is no
animal life on land, but the water is teeming with fish. The island is surrounded
by a coral reef, which keeps the predators out. The shore is sandy with no algal
growth. Fresh water is available.
Island B
The island has a rocky shoreline. Numerous tidal pools dot the island along the
shore where the wave action is somewhat sheltered by rock outcrops. The tidal
pools host barnacles, chitons (primitive molluscs), abalone, sea urchins, and
crabs. Algae grow all around the island, but algal growth is quite sparse in the
tidal pools where the various land and aquatic animals feed. The current is quite
strong along the rocky outcrops where the algae grow best. Fresh water
is available.
Island C
The island is somewhat barren. A few species of cactus thrive on the bare rocks.
A species of large cactus-eating tortoises inhabits the island. A species of very
large birds nests on the island annually. They build their nests on the rocks,
and protect their eggs from the Sun by standing over the nests with outspread
Go to Developing Research Skills in
Appendix A for help with conducting research. wings. The nests are always on the windy side of the island, which is cooled by
offshore breezes.

Island D Analyze and Interpret
The island is an extinct volcano. Vegetation on the island 1. How many adaptations did your rat have, compared
changes, depending on the altitude. Grasses grow at the with the ancestral rat?
base. On the lower slope of the volcano, the grasses give 2. List the adaptations of your rat. Explain how each
way to low shrubs. Halfway up, the island becomes quite adaptation helps the rat survive the environment.
lush—tropical plants and trees dominate the landscape. At
3. Choose one adaptation, and describe a possible path
this altitude, the island experiences frequent rain showers.
for natural selection.
There are two species of birds that inhabit the island. One
is a raptor that preys on the smaller birds. The other bird 4. Imagine your rat was washed away by the tide and
species fishes the waters approximately half a kilometre landed on one of the other islands.
offshore. Both nest in trees. a. Would it have a good chance of survival? Explain
your answer.
Procedure b. Could this rat’s alleles be added to the already
1. Research print and Internet sources to learn specific existing gene pool? Explain why or why not.
characteristics of rats, including their size, coloration,
living and feeding habits, and predators. List the Conclude and Communicate
characteristics of a modern rat as your ancestor rat. 5. Compare and contrast your rat with the rat of another
group. Explain the differences and similarities.
Extend Further
6. INQUIRY Design a rat that is adapted to one of the

other islands.
7. RESEARCH There are many small island chains in
the world, for example, the Cook Islands, the Canary
Islands, and the Maldive Islands. Research one of these
island chains, or another of your choosing, and describe
some of the species that live on the islands. Are there
obvious differences in species between islands?
This photograph shows a modern-day brown rat.
2. Consider the characteristics of the island that your

teacher has assigned you. List what types of food are
available, what types of predators exist, and so on.
Draw a sketch of your island, showing the geography
and any other characteristics you can add.
3. Think about the types of adaptations a rat would need
to survive on your island. Draw your rat.
4. Present your rat and your island to the class along with
your answers to the Analyze and Interpret questions.

STSE
Case Study
What’s Good About Forest Fires?
Assessing the Impact of Forest Fires on the Boreal Forest Ecosystem
Scenario
A family friend from northern Ontario works as a volunteer firefighter. Your friend is
concerned about the effects of forest fires on the woodland caribou. You decide to
research the matter and post a blog to open discussion on this issue.
my blog spot new posts old posts
DAY 10 – 2:30 P.M.

Facts About Forest Fires In Canada each year, an average
The boreal forest is composed
Some plant species in Canada’s bore
al
as of 900 0 fires burn an average of
sts have evol ved to mostly of coniferous trees, such km2 of forest. Human
(norther n) fore e 25 000
spruce, fir, tamarack, and pine. Som fires,
take advantage of environmenta
l carelessness causes most forest
caus ed by fore st fires. In boreal tree species, such as the jack res caus ed by light ning account
disturban ces to but fi
pine and tamarack, have evolved
fact, the boreal forest is dependen
t on
re to for most of the forest area burned.
be fire-dependent—they need fi the
forest fires for its health. are Forest fires are most common in
survive. The cones of these trees les of
After a forest fire, a sequence of heat boreal forest. The thin need
sealed with resin, and the extreme ily
ecological responses quickly begi
ns.
ed to melt the resin and coniferous trees burn more read
of a fire is need s tree s.
After any leaves and twigs on the than the leaves of deci duou
mes open the seed pods. When fire kills bore al forest, it
ground burn, the soil below beco seeds Whe n a fire start s in a
these conifers, thousands of live ad.
more exposed and then covered
with a is more likely to take hold and spre
dying are released from their cones. The te areas are
nutrient-rich ash. After older and , and In addi tion , fires in remo
seeds then scatter and germinate ral
trees burn, the forest canopy open
s up
al often left to burn as part of the natu
ight can reac h the grou nd. new trees begin to grow. Some anim al cycle . Mos t fires remain
so that sunl res. ecol ogic
itions species are also dependent on fi itions
This provides ideal growing cond on small, but a few occur under cond
soon A number of beetle species feed ad rapidly. This
for grasses and weeds, which are d that allow them to spre
recently burned wood and are foun -
followed by shrubs and bushes and re. small proportion of large, lightning
in abundance in forests after a fi t influence on
different types of trees. It can take on caus ed fi res has the mos
Black-backed woodpeckers rely .
decades or even hundreds of year
s for
. the area burned and the fire cycle
rege nera te afte r a fire. the larvae of these beetles for food st fi res gene rally kill and injure
a forest to fully Fore
Over the past several hundred
ed only a small proportion of animal
years, human activities have alter
s, populations. Most animals can run
natural fire patterns. In many area
ally or fly away, or burrow underground
park managers have been intention to
until the fire has passed. Changes
preventing forest fires for almost by a fire aff ect wild life
habitats caused
a century. While the boreal forest latio ns muc h more than the
of popu
still experiences a natural pattern ver
has fire itself. Some populations reco
forest fires, human intervention ly; othe rs may not return for
ld rapid
made the forest older than it wou mals
many years. Most birds and mam
be naturally. Today, the preferred ate in resp onse to changes in
is can migr
approach to forest management e
of food supplies, and can readily mov
to reproduce the natural patterns or out of burn ed areas. After a
ral into
forest fires, to maintain the natu such
st fire, habitats improve for species
forest structure and conserve fore se, whic h pref er open spaces.
h as moo
biodiversity. Prescribed burns, whic such
Species that require dense cover,
After a fire new plants grow, eithe
r are deliberately set and carefully carib ou, decl ine sign ificantly or
rging to as the
from seeds or from sprouts eme controlled fires, are now often used
from unburned roots. disappear for a number of years.
maintain or restore ecosystems.

Research and Analyze
1. The boreal forest is home to a wide variety of
animals and is a resting ground for many species
of migrating birds. Research boreal species and
identify one or more North American organisms
whose habitat and chances of success are improved
by forest fires (for example, Canada lynx), and one
my blog spot or more organisms whose habitat and chances of

success are harmed by forest fires (for example,
common juniper). Explain how each species is
benefited or harmed.
DAY 12 – 4:00 P.M.
2. Fire management that preserves older forest
Risks to Woodland Caribou
habitat is one way to support woodland caribou
Woodland caribou are a threatened species in Ontario and are populations. Research the potential long-term
protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. (A threatened
species is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. An
effects of fire management on the health of the
endangered species is currently at risk of extinction.) This Act boreal forest and its wildlife. Organize your findings
calls for the creation of recovery strategies for endangered and in a table with the following headings: Biotic
threatened species. Ontario’s woodland caribou require large Impact, Abiotic Impact, Impact on Food Chain,
areas of mature, coniferous forest, particularly stands (growths of and Impact on Species.
similar trees) of jack pine and spruce. These types of trees contain
mature populations of slow-growing lichens, the caribou’s main 3. Analyze how forest fires, including fires started by
food source in the winter. Lichens are also an important food and lightning, fires started accidentally, and prescribed
nesting material for many birds and small mammals.
Mature forests also provide protection for the caribou from
burns, affect woodland caribou populations. In your
my blog spot
timber wolves, the caribou’s main predator. Wolves prefer less analysis, use concepts you learned in this unit, such
dense areas. The reason for this preference is that wolves prey on as natural selection and adaptation. Then form an
moose as well as caribou, and moose prefer forests at an earlier opinion—should some forest fires be managed
stage of development. Young forests contain many smaller plants to protect the woodland caribou population, or
for foraging and browsing, and more open space to allow moose
to spot wolves. Caribou cannot survive high levels of predation.
should forest fires be allowed to burn to maintain
Female caribou have a relatively high pregnancy rate, but they the overall health of the boreal forest ecosystem?
always give birth to single calves, whereas moose and deer To help organize your data and show your opinion,
often give birth to twins. Therefore, the number of calves born display your analysis in a cycle chart or other
to caribou each year is much lower than for other types of deer. graphic organizer.
When forest habitats change to favour the moose, such as after
a forest fire, wolf populations increase and caribou populations
decline. Take Action
Should the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources control fires
in the boreal forest to protect woodland caribou populations? 4. Plan Share and discuss your research and analysis
Or should the Ministry allow forest fires (including prescribed with other students. Decide which information you
burns) to burn to protect the overall health of the boreal forest will post in your blog. Complete your blog.
ecosystem?
5. Take Action Contact the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources and advocate your opinion.
Include a link to your blog in your e-mail or letter.
Woodland caribou were once found as far south as

Algonquin Park in Ontario. Roads, land clearing,
and logging have encroached into their former
range and disturbed their habitat, as have forest
fires. Woodland caribou are now found in Ontario
north of Lake Nipigon.

Chapter 9 SUMMARY
Section 9.1 Mechanisms of Evolution and Their Effect on Populations
KEY TERMS • Non-random mating increases the number of certain

bottleneck effect genetic drift alleles because the phenotype produced by those alleles
directional selection non-random mating is more attractive to the opposite sex.
disruptive selection sexual selection • Genetic drift occurs more rapidly in small populations.
founder effect stabilizing selection It can result in the loss of alleles from a population and
gene flow an increase in the frequency of previously rare alleles.
The founder and bottleneck effects are two examples.
KEY CONCEPTS
• Gene flow is the movement, or flow, of alleles between • Natural selection is the process that produces adaptive
populations. changes within populations.
• The sources of genetic variation in a population are • When stabilizing selection occurs, an intermediate
mutations that are acted on by gene flow, non-random phenotype has an advantage. When directional selection
mating, genetic drift, and, most importantly, natural occurs, an extreme phenotype increases in frequency in
selection. When these mechanisms alter gene frequencies, a population. When disruptive selection occurs, extreme
evolution has occurred. phenotypes survive in the population at the expense of
intermediate forms.
• Gene flow due to migration of individuals can increase the
genetic diversity of a population, but gene flow can also • Sexual selection, which is a type of natural selection,
decrease the genetic diversity among populations of the involves characteristics or behaviours that make it more
same species. likely for individuals to choose a mate.
Section 9.2 Speciation: How Species Form
KEY TERMS • Post-zygotic isolating mechanisms prevent hybrid zygotes

adaptive radiation post-zygotic isolating from developing into viable, fertile individuals.
allopatric speciation mechanism • In sympatric speciation, populations become
convergent evolution pre-zygotic isolating reproductively isolated without geographical isolation.
divergent evolution mechanism In allopatric speciation, populations are geographically
ecological niche punctuated equilibrium isolated and thus become reproductively isolated.
gradualism speciation
• Adaptive radiation, a form of allopatric speciation, occurs
sympatric speciation
when there is diversification from a common ancestor into
KEY CONCEPTS a variety of species.
• A species consists of a reproductively compatible • In convergent evolution, similar traits arise because each
population, and speciation is the formation of new species species is independently adapted to similar environmental
from previously existing species. conditions. In divergent evolution, a species that was
• Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms either impede mating once similar to an ancestral species diverges or becomes
between species or prevent fertilization of the egg. These increasingly distinct.
mechanisms include behavioural, habitat, temporal, • Gradualism proposes that evolution occurs slowly and
mechanical, and gametic barriers. steadily over time. Punctuated equilibrium proposes
that evolution consists of long periods of equilibrium,
interrupted by periods of speciation.

Chapter 9 REVIEW
Knowledge and Understanding 6. Allopatric speciation, but not sympatric speciation,

Select the letter of the best answer below. requires which of the following?
a. reproductive isolation
1. Which of the following is the best example of the
founder effect? b. geographical isolation
a. A population explosion of mosquitoes occurs after c. spontaneous differences in males and females
a storm. d. prior hybridization
b. A moth carries pollen from one plant population to e. rapid rate of mutation
another and cross-fertilization occurs. 7. What is gene flow?
c. An earthquake forms a canyon that splits apart a a. reproductive success
population of toads, and this leads to speciation. b. the colonization of an area by a few individuals of
d. Ten birds of the same species colonize a newly a population that can lead to new species
formed volcanic island, and this leads to a new c. when individuals preferentially mate with
species of bird. individuals of a particular genotype
e. Ten male and seven female seagulls of an original d. the movement of alleles between populations
population of 500 survive a devastating tornado. e. a severe reduction of a population that can lead to
This leads to changes in the population. changes in populations
2. What aspect of a population is most critical for 8. What is the term that means rapid evolution of
determining a species? many species from an ancestral species, such as what
a. similar appearance or morphology happened with the Galapagos finches?
b. the ability to mate in captivity a. gene flow
c. the ability to eat the same food in the same b. mutation
ecological niche c. adaptive equilibrium
d. similar behaviours d. gradualism
e. the ability to interbreed in nature e. adaptive radiation
3. Which of the following is an example of a post-zygotic
Answer the questions below.
isolating mechanism?
a. Species use different mating songs. 9. In the Hawaiian Islands, there are thousands of species
b. Hybrids of two species are sterile. of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on
Earth. How would you explain this phenomenon, and
c. Species feed at different times of the day.
what is the name of this process?
d. Species have different breeding times.
e. Specific pheromones are used by species to 10. In order for species to remain distinct, they must
communicate. remain reproductively isolated. Describe a pre-zygotic
and a post-zygotic isolating mechanism.
4. A human population has an unusually high percentage
of individuals with a particular genetic disease. The 11. Explain how the following situations are isolating
most likely explanation for this is mechanisms that keep species separate.
a. gene flow a. Species of fireflies use distinctive patterns of flashes.
b. gradualism b. Two species of grasses flower at different times of
c. natural selection year, yet they live in the same environment.
d. genetic drift c. The crossing of two species of flies produces a fertile
hybrid offspring. The offspring of that fertile hybrid
e. punctuated equilibrium
is weak and infertile.
5. How does inbreeding affect genetic variation within
d. Two species of flycatcher birds overlap in range, but
a population?
one lives in open woods and farmland and the other
a. variation decreases lives in swampy areas.
b. variation increases
12. Explain the role of the environment in the speed of
c. variation does not change
evolutionary change.
d. variation increases, and then decreases
e. variation decreases, and then increases

Chapter 9 REVIEW
13. It is more likely for small populations that have become 23. Why is it difficult to classify species that do not
isolated from a parent population to become a new reproduce sexually? What criteria could you use to
species than it is for a large population to become a classify asexual species?
new species. Explain why this is. 24. What are some limitations to the biological species
14. Why do geographical barriers, such as a river, prevent definition, that is, a population that can interbreed and
gene flow in some species but not in others? produce a group of viable offspring in nature?
15. How can 1000 species of fruit flies on remote volcanic 25. Geospiza fuliginosa and Geospiza fortis are closely
islands have the same ancestor? related finches that are found separately on several
16. How can a bird’s call be a barrier to speciation? What of the Galapagos Islands and together on at least one
type of isolating mechanism is this? island. Given the hypothesis that competition for food
played a large role in the adaptive radiation of the
Thinking and Investigation Galapagos finches, answer the following questions.
17. Identify each model shown in the diagram, and explain a. How morphologically similar would you expect
how each is used to describe evolution. these two species to be, and why?
b. For any pair of finch species that are more
distantly related, in what ways (if any) would your
expectations of morphology be different? Explain.
Communication
26. Use software to create a flowchart or other type of
presentation showing how geographical barriers lead
Time
Time
new to speciation.
species
27. Evolution is the process of biological
divergence new change over time based on the relationships
species
divergence between species and their environments. Write a short
essay that outlines how genetic variation is involved in
natural selection and evolutionary change.
28. Sea stars eat clams by pulling apart the two halves of a
18. You are asked to catalogue the species of birds living in clam’s shell. Create a sequence of drawings to show how
a remote area that has never been visited by biologists. this could result in selection of muscle size in clams.
What criteria could you use to determine whether the
29. Use a flowchart or a cause-and-effect diagram to
individual birds you study are of the same species?
explain why natural selection can lead to the evolution
19. If mass extinction events eliminate most of the species of pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms but not to
alive at a given time in Earth’s history, how can post-zygotic isolating mechanisms.
biodiversity increase, over time, after such events?
30. Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast
20. Adaptive radiation often occurs on islands. Would the advantages and disadvantages of the biological
you expect to find more adaptive radiation on islands species concept. Refer to Using Graphic Organizers
that are remote from the mainland, like small Pacific in Appendix A to help you decide which graphic
islands, or islands that are close to the mainland, like organizer to use.
Vancouver Island? Explain your answer.
31. In a graphic organizer of your choice, compare and
21. Male bighorn sheep battle for females by running at contrast the ideas of gradualism and punctuated
each other and butting their heads together. In some equilibrium. Refer to Using Graphic Organizers
cases, the bighorn sheep can be hurt badly enough that in Appendix A to help you decide which graphic
they do not survive. Hypothesize how this behaviour organizer to use.
may have evolved, even though it means that some
32. Create a labelled diagram that explains how genetic
individual males may not live as long as they could.
drift can shift the distribution of alleles in a population
22. Draw a cause-and-effect chart to show how scientists in just a few generations.
hypothesize that the dinosaurs became extinct.

33. Summarize your learning in this chapter using a graphic 38. Monarch butterfly larvae, such as the one shown below,
organizer. To help you, the Chapter 9 Summary lists feed on milkweed. Research monarch butterflies and
the Key Terms and Key Concepts. Refer to Using the decline in the milkweed population, and answer
Graphic Organizers in Appendix A to help you decide the following questions.
which graphic organizer to use.
Application
34. Innate behaviours—also known as instinctive
behaviours—are behaviours that an organism is born
with. Innate behaviours are inherited from parents,
and they occur in all members of the species. These
behaviours involve two steps: the presence of a sign
stimulus, which prompts a fixed action pattern
(behaviour in response to a stimulus). Using print or
Internet resources, research innate behaviour using one
of the examples below. Produce a visual that outlines
the behaviour. a. What are two different causes of the declining
• taxis: a movement toward (positive) or away from milkweed population?
(negative) a directional stimulus b. How has the declining milkweed population
affected the migration of monarch butterflies?
• migration patterns
39. In Canada, individual grizzly bears and populations of
35. Identify each of the following as one of the five
grizzly bears are being isolated as human populations
mechanisms that cause evolution in populations.
expand their use of land that was previously used by
Mechanisms can be used more than once.
the bears.
a. Organisms become adapted to their environment.
b. The lack of genetic variability among cheetahs has
been attributed to this.
c. This often results in two adjacent populations
having similar genetic variation due to immigration
and emigration.
d. The movement of humans all over the world can
influence this.
e. The original finches that were blown over to the
Galapagos Islands from South America are an
example of this.
36. Some people are concerned that too many species are
going extinct, and that Earth will never achieve such
biodiversity again. How would you respond to these
a. If the grizzly bear were to become extinct, what
concerns?
might some of the economic, political, and social
37. Identify each of the following as pre-zygotic or implications be for Canada?
post-zygotic isolating mechanisms:
b. How might wildlife corridors help the situation?
a. preferred times during the day for mating (Wildlife corridors are routes designed to help
b. species-specific mating dances animals cross busy highways safely in Canada’s
c. unsuccessful offspring mountain parks.)
d. habitat isolation 40. Today, individual giant pandas and populations of
e. adult birds with unique mating songs that they learn giant pandas are being isolated in many small reserves
as young birds in China. What are the genetic implications of having
so many small reserves rather than one large reserve?

Chapter 9 SELF-ASSESSMENT
Select the letter of the best answer below. 6. K/U In a population of birds, the survival rate for
1. K/U What prevents one species from successfully large-beaked and small-beaked birds is greater than it
interbreeding with another species? is for birds with intermediate beaks. Which type of
a. transformational speciation selection is this?
b. reproductive isolating mechanisms a. stabilizing selection
c. gradualism b. intermediate selection
d. punctuated equilibrium c. disruptive selection
e. microevolution d. direction selection
e. dissertational selection
2. K/U Two animal species mate at different times of
the year. Which type of reproductive isolating 7. K/U The various species of Galapagos finches are
mechanism is this? each adapted to eating different foods. This is an

a. habitat example of
b. mechanical a. gene flow
c. temporal b. adaptive radiation
d. gametic c. sympatric radiation
e. hybrid breakdown d. Only b and c are correct.
e. All of these are correct.
3. K/U Which is likely to be a pre-zygotic isolating
mechanism in grasshoppers? 8. K/U Which of the following is an example of the
a. number of wings founder effect?

b. mating call a. an adaptation in a grass species that keeps
c. thorax length herbivores from eating the grass
d. size of forewings b. the evolution of a long neck in giraffes
e. head shape c. the presence of unique characters in island plants
d. the appearance of a few South American birds in
4. K/U You study two very similar rabbit populations,
the Galapagos Islands
one from northeast Canada and one from northwest
e. birds that attract more mates due to brightly
Canada. How could you start the process to determine
coloured tail feathers
whether the populations belong to the same species?
a. Show that the ranges of the two rabbits are exclusive. 9. K/U Which of the following is true about the effect of
b. Show that there are colour similarities between the a mutation in a gene pool?
two rabbit populations. a. It leads to competition between males for females.
c. Demonstrate that the two types of rabbits have the b. It can add genetic variation to a population.
same diet. c. It can increase or decrease genetic variation in a
d. Show that the rabbits will mate and produce viable population.
offspring. d. It decreases genetic variation in a population.
e. Show that the rabbits live in different habitats. e. It can prevent individuals with particular
phenotypes from breeding.
5. K/U What is adaptive radiation?
a. the slow change in organisms over time 10. K/U Which of the following best describes natural
b. a mechanism of evolution that causes adaptive selection?

changes in organisms a. Natural selection causes inbreeding.
c. the evolution of many species from a single b. Individuals with adaptive traits survive and
ancestral species reproduce better.
d. the formation of a new behaviour or structure c. Natural selection is the ultimate source of genetic
within a species variation.
e. a reproductive isolating mechanism that keeps d. Natural selection is the random fluctuation in allele
species apart frequencies in a large population.
e. Gametes move from one population to another.

Use sentences and diagrams as appropriate to answer the 20. T/I You are raising a plant with two variations in
questions below. flower colour—red and white. White is recessive.
11. T/I Suppose there are two iguana populations in Explain what is happening in this plant population
two different locations. The iguanas differ only in the based on three generations of data containing
colour of their skin. genotypes and phenotypes for flower colour as shown
a. Suggest data that would help you decide whether in the diagram.
both populations belong to the same species of First Generation Second Generation Third Generation
iguana.
AA aa
b. Assume that the two populations are different AA AA
AA AA
Aa AA
species. Suggest data that would help you decide Aa
aa
how closely related these two species are. aa AA
AA AA
Aa AA AA
12. C In a graphic organizer, show the relationships
Aa aa
between the following terms: reproductive isolation, AA AA
Aa AA
pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms, post-zygotic Aa AA
AA
isolating mechanisms, and species. Refer to Using Aa Aa
AA 5 plants 2 plants AA
Graphic Organizers in Appendix A to help you decide reproduce reproduce
which graphic organizer to use.
13. A Explain how the following situations are 21. A You test the probability of getting heads or tails
reproductive barriers that keep species separate. by flipping a coin. You know you have a 50-50 chance
a. Species of fire ants use unique chemical signals of heads or tails, but you do not get this ratio when you
emitted from their antennae. flip the coin 10 times. You do get close to the ratio of
50 percent heads and 50 percent tails when you flip the
b. Two species of moths mate at different times of the
coin 50 times. How do these results support the idea of
day, yet they live in the same environment.
genetic drift of allele frequencies in populations if each
c. The crossing of two species of beetle produces
coin flip represents a mating event in a population?
offspring that do not survive.
Assume that a head is one allele and a tail is the other
14. K/U Describe allopatric speciation and give an allele for one gene.
example.
22. K/U What is an ecological niche, and how is it
15. T/I How could the rise and fall of the water level of related to the evolution of a species?
a lake over thousands of years result in the speciation
23. C Make a spider map, with natural selection in
of a population of fish?
the middle. Use the spider map to describe directional
16. C Using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast selection, stabilizing selection, disruptive selection,
the founder effect and the bottleneck effect. and sexual selection. Go to Using Graphic Organizers
17. A The females of a species of toad commonly in Appendix A for help making a spider map.
select mates that are similar in size to themselves. 24. K/U Every autumn in Ontario, the leaves on
How might this behaviour affect microevolution? deciduous trees change—they turn different colours
18. K/U Describe two models for the speed of and fall. Is this an example of evolution? Explain
evolutionary change. your answer.
19. C Create a flowchart that shows how non-random 25. T/I Think about how insect pollinators can
mating can increase the frequency of homozygous contribute to gene flow between plant populations.
individuals in a population. Go to Using Graphic Suggest another mechanism of gene flow using an
Organizers in Appendix A for help making a flowchart. animal as an example.
Self-Check
If you missed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
question...
Review
9.2 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.1 9.2 9.1 9.1
section(s)...

Unit 3 Project
Conduct an Inquiry
Predicting the Evolution of a Modern Horse’s Descendant

Most equine (horse) breeds have been selectively bred for specific features, such as speed in
race horses. Like all other species on the planet, the horse has undergone changes as a result
of natural selection. A modern example is the breed of horses living on Sable Island. Sable
Island is about 150 km east of Nova Scotia. About 250 years ago, records show that several
horses that looked like the horse in photograph A were released onto the island. Although Nova Scotia
some historians have offered explanations, exactly why the horses were released there remains
Halifax
a mystery. Today, the horses on Sable Island look very different, as shown in photograph B. Sable
Island
The original horse breed released on Sable Island was a product of selective breeding. In this
project, you will use your understanding of evolution to predict what a descendant of another
modern horse breed might look like in the future, in the absence of humans.
How might one breed of modern horse evolve if the breed were to exist in the wild,
without interaction with humans?
Initiate and Plan

1. Research the evolution of horses from 54 million years 4. Decide on an evolutionary time period (ranging from
ago (Hyracotherium) to the present (Equus). Include several centuries to several eons). Take into account the
ponies and the Przewalski’s horse. Record the evidence possible effects of natural selection as well as genetic
that documents the evolutionary path of today’s horses. changes over time on the evolution of the horse breed
you have chosen.
2. Choose a modern breed of horse, as well as three of the
breed’s adaptations, such as body size, foot structure, Perform and Record
and teeth shape. You will use these adaptations to predict
5. Compare the following genera of the order
the evolutionary changes that your breed of horse might
Perissodactyls: Loxolophus, Hyracotherium,
undergo, in an environment isolated from humans.
Mesohippus, Parahippus, Merychippus, Pliohippus,
3. Choose an isolated geographical area for your horse and Equus. Note differences and similarities.
breed, other than Sable Island. Choose a region that will
6. Compare the Przewalski’s horse with two modern horse
allow the horses to be successful. Consider the initial
breeds and two modern pony breeds, in terms of the
number of horses, food sources, predators, and other
adaptations you chose to track over time. Record your
species competing for food. Record the geographical
observations.
and climate conditions of the area you chose.
A B
(A) Spanish horses like these ones arrived on Sable Island about 250 years ago. Their appearance is the result of selective
breeding. (B) These smaller animals now run wild on Sable Island. Various horse breeds have been introduced to the
original population, but none resemble the pony-sized animals living there today. The appearance of the horses is a result
of environmental stresses and natural selection in their new surroundings.

7. Compare the current characteristics of your chosen 1
breed to the current characteristics of other modern Equus
horses and ponies. Pliohippus
2
8. Which adaptations in modern horses and ponies are Hypohippus
Millions of Years Ago

specific to which environmental factors? 7
9. Predict the appearance of your modern horse breed’s Anchitherium

Merychippus
descendant after the evolutionary time period you 26
chose. Record your predictions, and include a sketch
of what the descendant might look like after the time Mesohippus
period chosen. Give your horse breed a name. 38
Analyze and Interpret Hyracotherium

54
1. Describe your horse breed’s niche. What evolutionary Forefoot
changes might increase the horse’s success in that niche?
2. Which mechanisms of evolutionary change—for This phylogenetic tree shows the genera and the shape
of the front foot of animals in the order Perissodactyls.
example, genetic drift—might influence the evolution
of the horse breed you chose?
3. How might those mechanisms affect the breed’s chances Assessment Criteria
of survival?
Once you complete your project, ask yourself these
4. In what ways might the horse breed adapt to the questions. Did you…
various environmental factors you decided would exist? ✓ T/I collect information about evidence of equine
Consider a wide variety of adaptations based on what evolution from a variety of reliable sources?
you have learned in this unit. ✓ C document your research in an appropriate
format, using proper academic documentation?
5. How did the other organisms in the geographical
✓ K/U describe the evolution of horses and ponies
region you chose exert selective pressure on your and the types of supporting evidence used?
horse breed?
✓ K/U choose a modern breed of horse and identify
6. Can you test your prediction? Why or why not? three adaptations demonstrated by that breed?
✓ K/U determine a geographical area, an
Communicate Your Findings evolutionary time period, and mechanisms of
7. Clearly explain the possible evolutionary changes in the evolutionary change that would influence your
chosen breed of horse?
horse breed you chose and how the changes would help
✓ T/I predict the appearance of the descendant of
the horse adapt and survive.
your modern horse breed and explain possible
8. Draw a phylogenetic tree with at least three sketches of reasons for the descendant’s adaptations?
equines, past and present. An example of a phylogenetic ✓ T/I predict how other organisms might have
tree is shown above. Include your sketch of what the exerted selective pressure on the equine breed?
descendant of your chosen horse breed might look like. ✓ C choose an appropriate format, including
instructive visuals, to communicate your findings?
9. Consider the best way to present your findings, such as ✓ C use scientific terminology, appropriate to both
a poster or an interactive web page. Be sure to consider your purpose and audience, in the presentation of
your audience. Your presentation should clearly show your work?
how and why you predicted certain adaptations.
Unit 3 Project • MHR 385

UNIT
3 SUMMARY
Overall Expectations
In this unit you learned how to…
• Evolution is the process of biological change over time • analyze the economic and environmental advantages of
based on the relationships between species and their an artificial selection technology, and evaluate the impact
environments. of environmental changes on natural selection and
• The theory of evolution is a scientific explanation based endangered species
on a large accumulation of evidence. • investigate evolutionary processes, and analyze scientific
• Technology that enables humans to manipulate the evidence that supports the theory of evolution
development of species has economic and environmental • demonstrate an understanding of the theory of
implications. evolution, the evidence that supports it, and some of the
mechanisms by which it occurs
Chapter 7 Introducing Evolution
KEY IDEAS • Natural selection is the mechanism

• Adaptations can be structural, behavioural, or by which populations change.
physiological. Camouflage and mimicry are two types of Individuals in a population may
structural adaptation. survive if they have an inherited
• Variations can have a positive, neutral, or negative effect on trait that gives them a selective
an organism. If the effect is positive, the variations will be advantage. They can then go on
preserved in the population and may become adaptations. to reproduce and pass on their
advantage to their offspring.
• Mutations provide new genetic information in a population.
• Selective breeding is used to
• Species with very fast reproduction rates, such as bacteria,
improve or modify particular desirable traits.
can become adapted to changes in their environment
quickly. This can lead to populations of bacteria that are • Agricultural crops are selectively bred for different
resistant to antibiotics. characteristics, such as being pest-resistant. However,
selective breeding comes at the expense of decreased
variation.
Chapter 8 Developing a Theory of Evolution
KEY IDEAS • Darwin brought together his own

• Buffon challenged the idea that life forms are unchanging observations from his journey on
and that Earth was 6000 years old. Cuvier proposed the HMS Beagle, his observations
catastrophism as an explanation for fossil history. from his selective breeding, and
• Lyell noted that Earth’s geological features were in the work of many other great
a slow, continuous cycle of change, which he called thinkers to develop his theory of
uniformitarianism. Lamarck proposed the idea of evolution by natural selection.
inheritance of acquired characteristics, which said • The theory of evolution connects
that parents passed on acquired adaptations to the facts to provide a logical framework
environment, which resulted in evolution. that explains how life on Earth has
changed and is still changing.
• The fossil record, biogeography, anatomy, embryology, and
relationships in DNA all provide evidence for evolution.

UNI T
3 SUMMARY & REVIEW
Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation
KEY IDEAS expense of intermediate forms),

• The sources of genetic variation in a population are and sexual selection (involves
mutations that are acted on by gene flow, non-random non-random mating).
mating, genetic drift, and natural selection. • Sympatric speciation occurs when
• Speciation is the formation of new species from previously populations become reproductively
existing species. isolated without becoming
• Pre-zygotic isolating mechanisms impede successful geographically isolated. Allopatric
mating between species. Post-zygotic isolating speciation occurs when populations
mechanisms prevent hybrid zygotes from developing into become reproductively isolated
viable, fertile individuals. when geographically isolated.
• Natural selection can occur in several ways: stabilizing • Adaptive radiation occurs when there is diversification
selection (an intermediate phenotype has an advantage), of a common ancestor into a variety of species.
directional selection (an extreme phenotype increases • Two models of the speed of evolutionary change are
in frequency in a population), disruptive selection gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.
(extreme phenotypes survive in the population at the
Knowledge and Understanding 4. How did Lyell’s views influence Darwin’s views on the
Select the letter of the best answer below. living world?
a. Lyell suggested that Earth slowly changed over a
1. The process involving changes in one or more
long period of time. From this, Darwin inferred
characteristics of a population that are heritable and
that perhaps slow changes have also occurred in
occur across many generations is called
biological organisms.
a. natural selection
b. Lyell theorized that sudden catastrophic changes
b. sexual selection
must have occurred on Earth, leading to rapid
c. population genetics
evolutionary changes in organisms on Earth.
d. biological evolution
c. Darwin deduced from an essay by Lyell that
e. inheritance of acquired characteristics there are limited resources on Earth, and many
2. Which of the following statements is correct? individuals die in the struggle to obtain resources.
a. Mutations are not important in evolution. d. Darwin interpreted that organisms adapt to
b. Mutations provide the source for genetic variation the changing Earth based on Lyell’s idea of the
that other evolutionary forces may act upon. inheritance of acquired characteristics.
c. Mutations occur at such a high rate that they e. Lyell realized that species can go extinct, which
promote major changes in the gene pool from one explains the evidence in the fossil record.
generation to the next. 5. Which of the following best describes artificial selection?
d. Mutations are insignificant when considering a. Nature selects offspring with desired traits, and they
evolution of a large population. reproduce more successfully.
e. Mutations are of greater importance in larger b. Individuals that are better adapted to their
populations than in smaller populations. environment survive and reproduce more
3. What is the end product of the process of natural successfully than others.
selection? c. Organisms on Earth all descend from a common
a. genetic variation ancestor.
b. adaptation d. Humans select specific organisms to breed to
c. genetic drift produce offspring with desired traits.
d. mutation e. Populations produce more offspring than can
e. gene flow survive, which leads to competition.
Unit 3 Review • MHR 387

UNIT
3 REVIEW
6. What is one way to determine whether members of 13. Differentiate between a geographical barrier and a
a population are from the same species? behavioural barrier.
a. Members of the population look alike. 14. Artificial selection can sometimes cause traits that are
b. Members of the population are geographically not desirable, such as joint problems in some breeds of
isolated. dogs. Does the same thing happen in natural selection?
c. Members of the population can interbreed and 15. Given your understanding of genetic diversity within
produce viable and fertile offspring. a species and natural selection, explain why it is
d. Members of the population eat the same foods. important to maintain biodiversity.
e. Members of the population mate at the same time 16. Define selective pressure as it relates to evolution by
of the day. copying and completing the chart below.
7. Which of the following factors increases genetic
Definition Characteristics
variation in a population?
a. sexual reproduction d. asexual reproduction
selective
b. selective breeding e. inbreeding pressure
c. favourable adaptations
8. The concept of punctuated equilibrium suggests that Examples Non-examples
a. the rate of evolution is constant, with short time
periods of no evolutionary change 17. Describe what mimicry is and why it is considered to
b. evolution occurs gradually over time be an adaptation.
c. small genetic changes accumulate over time to allow 18. How does natural selection influence adaptation?
for changes in phenotype and in speciation 19. Explain how embryology supports the idea that
d. long periods of little evolutionary change are similar organisms, such as vertebrates, have a common
interrupted by short periods of major evolutionary ancestor.
change 20. In your notebook, state whether each of the following
e. the rate of evolution is constant over time statements is true or false. If the statement is false,
9. Which is a pre-zygotic isolating mechanism? rewrite it so that it is true.
a. a barrier that occurs after fertilization a. Genes mutate.
b. a barrier that prevents mating or fertilization b. Populations are selected.
c. speciation that occurs due to a physical barrier c. Individuals evolve.
d. a barrier that prevents the production of viable 21. Describe the possible fates of a mutation and the
offspring effects a mutation may have on a population. Explain
e. speciation that results from geographic isolation what could happen in a population when a mutation
10. Which of the following is an example of a post-zygotic provides a selective advantage.
isolating mechanism? 22. Identify whether each of the following is an example of
a. incompatible sexual anatomy stabilizing, directional, or disruptive selection.
b. different mating seasons a. A population has only very large and very small
c. incompatible gametes snails.
d. mountain range separating two populations b. A population of ducks lays eggs of intermediate
e. fertilized egg fails to develop normally weight.
c. In different parts of Africa, the colour pattern of the
Answer the questions below.
butterfly Papilio dardanus is dramatically different.
11. Explain why genetic diversity within a population is d. Most individuals in a population of hummingbirds
necessary for evolution. have long beaks.
12. Explain why it is correct to talk about the evolution e. A population has only medium-sized spiders.
of populations, but it is incorrect to talk about the f. A population shifts from being primarily black
evolution of individual organisms. moths to being primarily flecked moths.

23. Describe the relationship between adaptive radiation, 28. Colchicine is a chemical used to double the number
mass extinction events, and punctuated equilibrium. of chromosomes in plant species. Sometimes new
varieties of the colchicine-treated plants survive if
Thinking and Investigation two mutant organisms mate.
24. Use print and/or Internet resources to research a. How might plant breeders use such a chemical?
the evolutionary history of elephants. Does the b. How could you create a new species this way?
evolutionary history of elephants provide better
29. Grizzly bears can mate with black bears, but the
support for the idea of punctuated equilibrium or for
offspring are not fertile. On the other hand, when grizzly
the idea of gradualism?
bears mate with polar bears, the offspring are fertile.
25. Lacewings are small insects that attract mates by a. Infer the evolutionary relationship between grizzly
auditory (sound) signals. The insects move their bears, black bears, and polar bears.
abdomens to vibrate the surface on which they are
b. Do you consider grizzly bears and polar bears to be
sitting to produce sound. Use the graph below to
the same species? Explain your answer.
answer the following questions.
30. There are no indigenous species (that is, no species
that are native only to the area) in the Florida Keys, a
group of islands close to the U.S. mainland. In contrast,
there is a large number of indigenous species in the
Chrysoperla Hawaiian Islands. What could explain this difference?
plorabunda
Base your answer on your understanding of speciation
Amplitude (dB)
and adaptive radiation.

Chrysoperla 31. You are studying two closely related monkey species
adamsi
in the tropical rainforest. They are not known to
Chrysoperla
interbreed in nature. One species feeds and mates
johnsoni in the treetops of fruit trees. The other species feeds
and mates in fruit trees as well. In captivity, these two
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
species interbreed and produce viable, fertile hybrids.
Time (s)
Hypothesize what type of reproductive barrier could
The symbol “dB” stands for decibels, or loudness of sound. be keeping these species apart in nature.
a. Identify two differences in the three auditory signals. 32. Propose a hypothesis to explain why stripes developed
b. Will a Chrysopoeria johnsoni insect mate with a as an evolutionary advantage for zebras. Use the
Chrysoperia plorabunda insect? Why or why not? photograph below and the fact that zebras are herd
c. This is an example of what type of barrier? Be animals to develop your hypothesis.
specific.
26. There are two frog populations in two different
locations. The frogs differ only in the colour of their
skin.
a. What data would help you decide whether both
populations belong to the same species of frog?
b. Now assume that the two populations are different
species. What data would help you decide how
closely related these two species are to each other?
27. Today, individual giant pandas and populations of
giant pandas are being isolated in many small reserves
in China.
a. What are the genetic implications of having so
many small reserves rather than one large reserve?
b. What could be done to encourage gene flow?

UNIT
3 REVIEW
Communication 43. Copy and complete this concept map by using the
33. Technology that enables humans to following vocabulary terms: frequency of alleles,
manipulate the development of species has speciation, gradualism, natural selection, geographical
economic and environmental implications. In a short isolation, reproductive isolation, punctuated
paragraph, explain how monocultures can be positive equilibrium.
and negative at the same time. 1. 2. 3.
34. Use a graphic organizer to illustrate the relationships

cause changes in
between variations, adaptations, and natural selection.
4.
Refer to Using Graphic Organizers in Appendix A for
help choosing which graphic organizer to use. to produce
5.
35. Evolution is the process of biological
change over time based on the relationships
occurs slowly in occurs rapidly in
between species and their environments. Use an
6. 7.
illustration to show how environments affect evolution.
36. The theory of evolution is a scientific
Application
explanation based on a large accumulation
of evidence. Cuvier did not believe in the idea of 44. Some environmentalists warn against consumers using
evolution, yet his work had a huge influence on bird feeders in their yards. The environmentalists
Darwin’s thinking. In a graphic organizer, show how say that by offering seed to birds, the consumer may
Cuvier influenced Darwin. Refer to Using Graphic affect the bird populations by changing population
Organizers in Appendix A for help choosing which numbers and migration patterns over the long term,
graphic organizer to use. and eventually affect evolution. For example, several
birds feeding at a bird feeder are an easy target for prey
37. You are a researcher studying adaptations in animals.
birds, such as hawks. In addition, if food is offered to
Write a short essay describing two adaptations, and
some birds year round, they may not migrate south for
explain how each adaptive trait helps the animal
the winter. Research the issue of bird feeders affecting
survive.
evolution. State your opinion on the matter, and
38. In an e-mail to a peer, explain biological evolution and explain your answer.
how it occurs.
45. Using its long tail and long hind legs, the Ord’s
39. In a Venn diagram, compare mutations and natural kangaroo rat can jump 2 m in the air as it hops away
selection. from predators, such as snakes and owls.
40. Much of the theory of evolution has been developed by a. How would Lamarck account for the origin of the
interpreting certain observations or making inferences long hind legs of the Ord’s kangaroo rat?
about these observations. For each observation below, b. How would Darwin?
outline the inferences that Darwin made from this
information.
a. More offspring are produced than can survive.
b. No two individuals are exactly alike.
c. Resources such as food are limited.
41. Prepare a table that lists types of pre-zygotic isolating
mechanisms and gives an example of each.
42. Use a diagram and point-form notes to contrast the
ideas of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.
46. A doe tends to favour bucks with larger antlers. Is this

an example of natural selection? Explain your answer.

47. Only about 8500 French settlers colonized the St. 54. The photograph below shows the orchid mantis featured
Lawrence River valley in Québec between 1608 and at the beginning of this unit. This orchid mantis and the
1759. About six million people live there today. Some orchid flower are an example of coevolution. Research
rare mutations have been identified in the population. coevolution using the Internet or print resources.
One is an autosomal recessive mutation affecting a. Define coevolution.
hearing and vision. How can you explain these rare b. Suggest a hypothesis that could explain why the
mutations in the population? orchid mantis and orchid flower coevolved to
48. Several careers related to the study of evolution have appear the way they do.
been mentioned in this unit: biologist, conservationist, c. List another example of coevolution and
evolutionary biologist, geologist, naturalist, hypothesize why coevolution occurred.
paleontologist, and parasitologist.
a. Choose a career that interests you, and research it.
b. Find out what education you would need, typical
starting salaries, and examples of the institutions
that hire people for that position.
c. Make an advertisement for this job to appear in an
Internet job site.
49. Recently, a new bird fossil was found in Jehol Biota,
China. The new bird was named Longicrusavis houi.
Research the new finding on the Internet.
a. What does Longicrusavis mean, and why was the
55. Research Internet and print resources to learn more
bird given this name?
about cystic fibrosis, cholera, and the connection
b. Why is this bird’s habitat important to
between them.
paleontologists?
a. Name one symptom of a child with cystic fibrosis.
c. What is one way in which the fossils from Jehol
b. Name the two main symptoms of someone with
Biota are remarkable? Explain your answer.
cholera.
50. A population of fish in which 95 percent of individuals
c. Why are people who carry the gene for cystic
are light green and 5 percent are mottled grey lives
fibrosis better able to survive cholera?
primarily among kelp that grows on the ocean bottom.
d. A harmful gene normally does not stay in the gene
A disease kills the kelp, leaving the population without
pool because those organisms with the gene do not
cover. Use objects such as beads to describe how the
live long enough to reproduce and pass the gene to
population might change over several generations.
offspring. Explain why the gene for cystic fibrosis
51. A tan-coloured insect lives in a sandy area. Some has not disappeared.
insects in the population show some green in their
56. In Canada, Atlantic salmon are farmed on both the
coloration. The climate begins to cool and become
Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Some people are concerned
moister. Slowly, the habitat is covered by green plants.
about the introduction of domestic salmon to the
Use Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection
oceans, fearing that Atlantic salmon that escape from
to explain how the insect population might evolve to
fish farms might affect the genetics of wild salmon
be green. Use a diagram.
if they begin to interbreed and hybridize. Biologists
52. Shoppers generally prefer food without any blemishes point to the selectional forces that are at play in the
or markings. To achieve this perfect-looking produce, two populations. Farmed salmon, for example, are
farmers often have to use pesticides. Explain the role artificially selected and bred for increased growth
that shoppers play in the evolution of insect “pests.” rate and larger size, among other characteristics. In
53. Suppose that female butterflies prefer males in populations of wild salmon, however, natural selection
their population that have long wings. However, is at play. Describe the selectional forces that might
long-winged butterflies do not fly as well as affect wild salmon populations and note whether
short-winged butterflies. What kinds of selection forces the type of selection in farmed and wild salmon
are in conflict here? What might happen as a result? populations is directional, stabilizing, or disruptive.

UNIT
3 SELF-ASSESSMENT
Select the letter of the best answer below. 7. A Which of the following is the best example of a
1. K/U On which unit does natural selection work bottleneck?
directly? a. Following a storm, a group of birds floats on tree
a. the individual logs to another island and evolves into a new
b. the population species.
c. the gene b. A fruit eater deposits seeds of a fig plant in several
d. the cell different locations.
e. the species c. Only 50 individuals are left in a population, leading
to decreased variation in the gene pool and the
2. A Which of the following best explains the
possibility of an increase in new diseases.
evolution of a large, colourful tail in peacocks?
d. Ten birds of the same species colonize a Hawaiian
a. natural selection
island.
b. sexual selection
e. Moths blend in with their environment.
c. divergent speciation
8. A In a population of fish, body coloration varies
d. allopatric speciation
from white to a very dark shade of green. Changes in
e. homologous structures
the environment result in less predation of white
3. K/U What is Lamarck best known for? individuals. This is an example of which type of
a. his theory of evolution by natural selection selection?
b. his theory of descent with modification a. disruptive
c. his theory of catastrophism b. stabilizing
d. his idea of acquired characteristics c. directional
e. his idea of blended inheritance d. sexual
4. K/U Which of the following criteria can be used to e. artificial
identify a species? 9. K/U Which of the following scientists influenced
a. similar outward appearance and physiology Darwin’s views about the fossil record?
b. the ability to mate in nature a. Cuvier
c. the habitat b. Wallace
d. similar territorial behaviours c. Lyell
e. the ability to mate in a zoo d. Malthus
5. K/U An evolutionary change in which an organism’s e. Lamarck
characteristics change in ways that make it better 10. K/U Hybrid breakdown occurs when hybrids that are
suited to its environment is reproductively isolated from their parents
a. natural selection a. do not develop past the early embryonic stages
b. an adaptation b. have a reduced life span
c. an acquired characteristic c. are infertile
d. evolution d. are fertile but produce offspring with reduced
e. sexual selection viability and fertility
6. K/U What is natural selection? e. produce offspring that only express the traits of one
a. non-random mating of the original species
b. individuals with adaptive traits survive and
reproduce more successfully
c. the ultimate source of genetic variation
d. random changes in the distribution of alleles in
a small population
e. individuals move back and forth from one
population to another

Use sentences and diagrams as appropriate to answer the 21. T/I The illustration below shows two phenotypes of
questions below. male coho salmon: the smaller jack salmon and the
11. C Write short sentences describing what you noticeably larger, regular-sized male. Identify the type
think might be common misunderstandings and of selection shown here. Explain your answer.
misinterpretations about the following:
a. evolution versus natural selection Initial
b. survival of the fittest distribution
Number of individuals
12. C Make a Venn diagram to show the differences
between adaptation and genetic variation.
13. T/I Explain why you think natural selection does After time
not achieve perfection in organisms. Give an example.
14. K/U Define gradualism and punctuated equilibrium.
15. K/U Hummingbird moths are night-flying insects
After more
that look similar to hummingbirds. Explain how these time
two organisms demonstrate the concept of convergent
evolution.
16. T/I Does the process of natural selection always 22. K/U What is a vestigial structure? Include an
improve the design of organisms? Explain your answer. example in your answer.
17. K/U Distinguish between convergent evolution and 23. The Rocky Mountains used to be much higher
A
divergent evolution. than they are today. Over time, the mountains have
18. K/U Compare and contrast genetic drift and natural changed—they have been eroded by weather and are
selection as mechanisms of evolution. not as tall today as they were in the past. Is this an
19. K/U Suppose there is a seemingly neutral mutation
example of evolution? Explain your answer.
in a small portion of a given population. Explain the 24. Explain this quote by Theodosius Dobzhansky:
T/I
conditions in which this mutation might become “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of
quickly perpetuated in, and advantageous to, the entire evolution.”
population. 25. T/I Why is it always imperative to consider time
20. C Write captions for parts A, B, and C of the scales when discussing evolution, gradualism, and
illustration below. punctuated equilibrium?
antibiotic
non-resistant
bacterium
resistant
bacterium
A B C
Self-Check
If you missed
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
question...
Review 7.1, 7.2, 8.1,
8.1 8.1 8.1 9.2 7.1 9.1 7.2 9.1 8.1 9.2 7.1 7.2 9.2 9.2 7.2 9.2 9.1 9.2 7.2 9.1 8.2 8.1 9.2
section(s)... 8.1, 8.2 8.2
Unit 3 Self-Assessment • MHR 393

Chapter 9 Biology 11

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Chapter 9 Biology 11

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CHAPTER Evolution and Speciation

• C2.1 use appropriate

• C2.2 use a research process

• C2.3 analyze, on the basis

• C3.3 deﬁne the concept of speciation,

• C3.4 describe some evolutionary

When Charles Darwin first observed the marine iguana

348 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 349

Factors That Change Allele Frequencies in Populations

350 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 351

Non-random Mating: Preferred Phenotypes

352 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 353

Figure 9.6 In each Genetic Drift in Roses

354 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Genetic Drift: The Bottleneck Eﬀect Figure 9.7 Polydactylism is

Figure 9.8 In this model,

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 355

A Stabilizing selection B Directional selection C Disruptive selection

0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125

Distribution Peak shifts Two peaks form

0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125 0 25 50 75 100 125

356 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 357

Activity 9.1 Identify the Type of Selection

A Growth of Agrostis tenuis on Agrostis tenuis

B Graphical representation of a type of selection

Metal sensitive Metal resistant Metal sensitive Metal resistant

358 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 359

Reproductive Isolating Mechanisms

temporal isolation gametic isolation hybrid inviability

ecological/habitat hybrid infertility

360 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Figure 9.13 (A) The western

Habitat Isolating Mechanisms

Temporal Isolating Mechanisms

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 361

Gametic Isolating Mechanisms

Activity 9.2 Leopard Frogs—One Species or Eight?

Leopard frogs were once believed to be a single, extremely Materials

A 2. Leopard frogs in North America include the northern,

362 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 363

parent plant (2n)

364 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

gene geographical barrier individual of individual of

Figure 9.16 Allopatric

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 365

warbler ﬁnch woodpecker ﬁnch

warbler finches tree finches ground finches

366 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

Figure 9.18 The crossed bill of the red crossbill

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 367

snail eater ﬁsh eater

Divergent and Convergent Evolution

368 MHR • Unit 3 Evolution

A B Figure 9.19 Two models

Gradualism Punctuated equilibrium

Activity 9.4 Shaping the Theory

Chapter 9 Evolution and Speciation • MHR 369