Adaptive Radiations, Biology

Assignment Help:

Adaptive Radiations

The organisms all the time tend to establish harmony with their environment. This process, called adaptation, enables the organism to face the vagaries of the ever changing environment. Adaptation in fact sums up the whole result of evolution. You might have noticed that when organisms belonging to dissimilar groups come to occupy similar environment, they develop striking identities in structure and behaviour, giving a false impression of closer relationship. For instance, fishes and whales which belong actually to different classes are found in similar habitat that is they are both aquatic. They look so alike that for a layman both are 'fishes'. This condition where organisms belonging to different groups adapt themselves to the same environment and look and act alike, is called adaptive convergence. On the other hand, there are situations in which organisms belonging to the same or closely related groups may occupy different environments due to which they develop varied adaptations. It gives rise to diverse evolutionary lines. You know previously that house- lizard, snake, tortoise and crocodile belong to the same class, Reptilia But they look thus different from each other that one may be tempted to place them in separate classes. This circumstances in which animals belonging to same or closely related groups occupy different habitats and obtain different functional adaptations, is called adaptive divergence or adaptive radiation.


Related Discussions:- Adaptive Radiations

Explain coelomates, Explain Coelomates? Recall that Acoelomates have so...

Explain Coelomates? Recall that Acoelomates have solid bodies, and Pseudocoelomates have body cavities that form between the endoderm and the mesoderm. In contrast, the body ca

What is a provirus, It is the DNA representing, the genome of virus that ha...

It is the DNA representing, the genome of virus that has been included into the DNA of the host.

Zoology, differences of plants and animals in terms of form and structure?

differences of plants and animals in terms of form and structure?

Is cancer a disease transmitted to the individual offspring, How are mutage...

How are mutagenic agents related to cancer incidence in a population? Is cancer a disease transmitted to the individual offspring? The exposition of a population to mutagenic a

Explain the pre pregnancy weight and foetal outcome, Explain the Pre Pregna...

Explain the Pre Pregnancy Weight and Foetal Outcome? Several studies from around the world from developing and developed countries have demonstrated an association between pre-

Mechanisms of speciation, In the previous section we discussed the concept ...

In the previous section we discussed the concept of species in detail and concluded that the concept of biological species and Mayr's definition of species have a wide acceptance a

Define corneal scar - micronutrient deficiencies, Define Corneal Scar - Mic...

Define Corneal Scar - Micronutrient Deficiencies? The corneal ulcer, on healing, leaves a white scar, which may vary in size depending upon the size of the ulcer. When the scar

Preparation of cardiac surgery, Preparation on the Previous Day of Operatio...

Preparation on the Previous Day of Operation Remove all the jewellery, nail polish, cut nails.  The patient's body is cleaned - shaving from chin to toe, inclu

Explain about force-gated channel, At 1:00AM, Neuron A is at rest with memb...

At 1:00AM, Neuron A is at rest with membrane potential equal to -70 millivolts; it is producing no action potentials.  The threshold for an action potential in neuron A is -55 mill

What is the primary structure of a protein, What is the primary structure o...

What is the primary structure of a protein? What is the importance of the primary structure? Ans) The primary protein structure is the linear sequence of amino acids that produc

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd