Navigation Links
Adaptive radiation


Adaptive radiation describes the rapid speciation of a single or a few species to fill many ecological niches. This is an evolutionary process driven by mutation and natural selection.

Adaptive radiation often occurs when a species is introduced to a new ecosystem, or when a species can survive in an environment that was unreachable before. For example, the Darwin's finches on the Galapagos islands developed from a single species of finches that reached the islands. Other examples include the introduction of predatory mammals to Australia by humans, the development of the first birds, which suddenly were able to expand their territory into the air, or the development of lung fish during the Devonian period, about 300 million years ago.

The dynamics of adaptive radiation is such that, within a relatively short time, many species derive from a single or a few ancestor species. From this large number of genetic combinations, only a few can survive on long term. After the rapid development of many new species, lots or most of them die out as quickly as they appeared. The surviving species are almost perfectly adapted to the new environment. The rise and fall of new species is now progressing very slowly, compared to the initial outburst of species.

There are three basic types of adaptive radiation. They are :

  1. General adaptation. A species that develops a radically new ability can reach new parts of its environment. An example of general adaptation is bird flight.
  2. Environmental change. A species that can, in contrast to the other species in the ecosystem, successfully survive in a radically changed environment will probably branch into new species that cover the new ecological niches created by the environmental change. An example of adaptive radiation as the result of an environmental change is the rapid spread and development of mammalian species after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
  3. Archipelagoes. Isolated ecosystems, such as islands and mountain areas, can be colonized by a new species which upon establishing itself undergoes rapid divergent evolution. Darwin's finches are examples of adaptive radiation occurring in an archipelago.

In science fiction sometimes adaptive radiation of humans is imagined. This often makes for interesting multi-species worlds.


'"/>


(Date:6/18/2013)... Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has been honored ... Investigator Award. Torrent is being recognized for his ... to predict antimicrobial regions in proteins. Luis Rivas, ... applying this algorithm to interrogate full genomes in ... very appealing results." , Torrent obtained his ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... extract of a yellow-flowered mountain plant long used for ... fruit fly populations by an average of 24 percent, ... Rhodiola rosea , also known as ... study leaders Mahtab Jafari and Sam Schriner. They discovered ... unrelated to dietary restriction and affects different molecular pathways. ...
(Date:6/18/2013)... shows that weight gain and increased head size in the ... IQ at early school age. , The study was led by ... than 13,800 children who were born full-term. , The results, published ... who put on 40% of their birthweight in the first four ... were six years of age, compared with babies who only put ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):The American Society for Microbiology honors Marc Torrent 2Herbal extract boosts fruit fly lifespan by nearly 25 percent, UCI study finds 2IQ link to baby's weight gain in first month 2
... carrot has been produced to help people absorb more calcium. ... Improvement Center studied the calcium intake of humans who ate ... The research, which was done in collaboration with Baylor College ... help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis. If you ...
... UBC researchers have discovered some of the genetic ... fight off pests and disease, uncovering critical new ... Prof. Joerg Bohlmann says this genetic analysis will ... inherent strength, breeding trees that could in time ...
... 14, 2008) Reporting in the online journal BMC Genetics, ... attempted to count the number of genes that contribute to ... over 6,000 genes about 25 percent of the genome ... describing the discovery of a new obesity gene have become ...
Cached Biology News:Got carrots? Vegetables may have bone to pick as calcium providers 2UBC discovery unlocks tree genetics, gives new hope for pine beetle defense 2Body weight influenced by thousands of genes 2
Other biology definitionOther Tags