Preview - From Ecosystems To Speciation

How Can Speciation Occur?

Questions

Please answer the questions below.

Scientists think the finches on the Galapagos are descended from finches that traveled from the mainland at some time in the past.  One possibility is that one type of finch arrived at the islands and split into new species over time.  Another possibility is that several species arrived at the islands.  Which do you think is more likely?  Why?

Do you think the environments on each island are similar? How might they be different?  It may be helpful to think about this in terms of ecological niches, and to think back to what you saw in the previous activity.

Why do you think there are so many different species of finch on such a small group of islands?  How might differences between the islands and their niches have affected the number of species?

Come up with a story that describes the how the different species of finches could have developed in the Galapagos islands.

Notes

These notes will appear on every page in this lesson so feel free to put anything here you'd like to keep track of.