The Different Finch Species in the Phylogeny Shown in the 22.8

question 182

Essay

The different finch species in the phylogeny shown in the 22.8 of the textbook have all evolved on islands of the Galápagos archipelago within the past 3 million years.Molecular clock analysis (see Chapter 23) has been used to determine the dates of the various speciation events in the phylogeny.Geological techniques for dating rock samples (see Chapter 24) have been used to determine the ages of the various Galápagos islands.The table shows the number of species of Darwin's finches and the number of islands that have existed in the archipelago at several times during the past 4 million years. Plot the number of species of Darwin's finches and the number of islands in the Galápagos archipelago (dependent variables) against time (independent variable).
Are the data consistent with the hypothesis that isolation of populations on newly formed islands is related to speciation in this group of birds? Why or why not?

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Definitions:

Male Infant

A young human male child, typically in the age range from birth to one year.

Female Infant

A young female child, typically considered to be under one year of age.

Aphagia

Failure to eat; may be due to an unwillingness to eat or to motor difficulties, especially with swallowing.

Lateral Hypothalamus

A region of the brain involved in regulating hunger and thirst.