Exam 22: Speciation

Refer to the table. Furnariids are a group of birds consisting of over 290 species found in the neotropics.Researchers constructed the phylogeny (evolutionary tree) for this group and identified five lineages (A to E).They also collected data on the flight performance (high being the strongest fliers), dietary breath (high having the widest diet), and sexual selection (high having the most intense sexual selection).Based on the data, which lineage should have the highest speciation rate?

A field contains two related species of flowering plants.Species A has a diploid chromosome number of 12, and species B has a diploid chromosome number of 14.If a third species arises as a result of hybridization between A and B, it will have _______ chromosomes.

The biological species concept is best suited for

Hybridization between two species of diploid plants results in a tetraploid.One plant has a haploid number of 14 chromosomes and the other has a haploid number of 17 chromosomes.The resulting plant has a total of _______ chromosomes in its somatic cells.

Which statement about the evolution of reproductive isolation is false?

Refer to the figure showing hooded merganser ducks. The identity of the merganser species is well-accepted, despite its sexual dimorphism.Explain what this implies for the use of morphological similarity to the biological species concept.

While studying colorful spiders on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii, you discover that populations on these four islands have the same anatomical features but a variety of different patterns on their abdomens.You also discover that they share reproductive behaviors and can freely mate with one another, producing viable offspring.Given this information, which conclusion about these spiders has the best support?

Which of the following examples does not illustrate gametic isolation?

The lineage species concept could be represented visually by

Silene is a genus of plants in the Caryophyllaceae.Many species of this plant have separate male and female individuals.Two populations may have evolved reproductive isolation.Which method would best determine if they exhibit gametic isolation?

The genes F and G act in accordance with the Dobzhansky-Muller model leading to sterility in hybrids between two species of monkeyflowers.Any combination of the F2 and the G1 alleles causes hybrids to be sterile.Based on the Dobzhansky-Muller model, which genotype was the ancestor of the two species unlikely to have?

The antennae of male moths can only detect sex pheromones released by a female of the same species, thus making it difficult for males to find females of other species.This is an example of _______ that may have been a(n) _______ mechanism for speciation.

Mitter and colleagues compared species richness in some closely related groups of true bugs (hemipterans).The common ancestor of these groups was a predator that fed on other insects, but a dietary shift to herbivory (eating plants) was found to have evolved at least twice in the groups studied.The herbivorous groups of insects have many more species than those that are predatory.In this case, the rate of speciation appears to be influenced by

The notion of potentiality in Mayr's definition of "potentially interbreeding" species would likely apply in which case?

What is the expected ploidy level of an F₁ hybrid offspring of a hexaploid father and a diploid mother?

Male Hawaiian fruit flies of different but closely related species share a geographic range.They have elaborate mating behaviors that involve fighting with other males and stylistic movements to attract females.These behaviors likely arose due to the phenomenon known as

In the eastern United States, populations of the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, can be found almost continuously from Maine to Georgia.Based on the biological species concept, why would a population of this species from Maine not be considered a separate species from a population in Georgia?

Which situation is most likely to lead to allopatric speciation?

Refer to the figure. A long, narrow hybrid zone exists in Europe between the ranges of the fire-bellied toad and the yellow-bellied toad.The persistence of this zone can be attributed to which factor?

Until recently, the land snails of the Hawaiian Islands were largely restricted to a single valley.Because snails move only short distances, the high ridges that surround the valley were effective barriers to their dispersal, and about 1,000 species of land snails evolved.This illustrates how speciation rates are