SPECIATION STUDENT NOTES

What is a species?

______________________ = the process by which a group of organisms becomes a new species

- Occurs when 2 populations of the same species become _____________________and can no

longer ______________________

- ____________________________ = inability for 2 species to interbreed

3 ways for a species to become isolated:

1. _______________________________________
Description:

Example:

2. _______________________________________
Description:

Example:

3. _______________________________________
Description:

Example:

-​ Once population becomes isolated, then ____________________begin to occur

​

-​ The different mutations can lead to ________________________ on those variations in the 2

​

different populations and can result in a divergence of the species

-​ Eventually, the 2 populations are no longer able to _______________________, which means

​

they are now 2 separate ______________________________

 SPECIATION WEBQUEST
POLLENPEEPERS:​ ​http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/origin/
1.​ ​First, click on ‘mainland’ and read through the competition, habitat, food, and predator level for
this population.
2.​ ​Now click through the different time periods at the bottom and observe the changes that take
place over time.
3.​ ​Click ‘map’ near the top to return to the original screen and go through the other islands and see
how they changed over time.
4.​ ​Answer the following questions:
-​ ​Over how long a time period do the pollenpeepers evolve in this simulation?

-​ What influence do competition, habitat, food, and predators have on evolution?

​

-​ How can one species, such as the pollenpeepers, adaptively radiate into different species?
​

HUMMING BIRDS: Watch the following video:

http://wimedialab.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.evo.hummingbird/hummingbird-species-in-the-t
ransitional-zones/
-​ ​Why did the hummingbirds in the Andes evolve into new species?

-​ What feature of the birds does Chris Schneider compare?

​

-​ ​How did scientists used to think new species were formed? How does Schneider’s research

modify old ideas?

-​ ​How are the factors that influence hummingbird evolution similar to those that influence the

evolution of the pollenpeepers? How are they different?