Speciation
Question 1: What is Speciation?
Answer:
Speciation is the splitting of one species into two or more new species or the transformation of one species into a new species over time.
Question 2: What factors could lead to the rise of a new species?
Answer:
The main factors which lead to the rise of new species are natural selection, genetic drift, geographical isolation, and mutation.
Question 3: What is allopatric speciation?
Answer:
In this type of species formation, a part of the population becomes geographically isolated from the main population. An example of Allopatric Speciation is Darwin’s finches which lead to the theory of evolution.
Question 4: Which type of speciation is based on the observation of H.L. Carson on Drosophila inhabiting Hawaii islands?
Answer:
Quantum speciation is based on the observation of H.L. Carson.
Question 5: Define Mutation.
Answer:
A mutation is a change in the DNA sequence of an organism. Mutations can result from errors in DNA replication during cell division, exposure to mutagens, or a viral infection.
Speciation and Evolution
Through the process of reproduction, individuals give rise to new individuals that are similar (not the same) to the parents. This similarity in progeny or offspring or child is due to the transmission of characters or traits from parents to their progeny. The transfer of characters from parents to offspring is known as heredity and the process through which characters or traits pass from one generation to another is called inheritance.
But, according to practical basis offspring are never a true copy of their parents, e.g., in a sugarcane field that are differences among individual plants, similarly in all human beings have different characteristics, complexion, height, eye colors, etc., these differences among the individuals of a species are called variations. Variations in plants are much lesser than in human beings.
The long-term accumulation of variations leads to evolving of a new species and the process is called evolution. It is a complex process and occurs over a long period of time.