Extinction and speciation

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  • Extinction and speciation
    • Extinction happens if you can't evolve quickly enough
      • 1) The fossil record contains many species that don't exist anymore- these species are said to be extinct
      • 2) Species become extinct for these reasons:
        • The environment changes too quickly e.g. if their habitat is destroyed
        • A new predator kills them all e.g humans hurting them
        • A new disease kills them
        • They can't compete with another(new) species for food
        • A catastrophic event happens that kills them all e.g a volcanic eruption or a collision with an asteroid
        • A new species develops( this is called specification)
    • Speciation is the development of a new species
      • 1) Speciation is when a new species develops
      • 2) Isolation is where populations of a species are separated, e.g due to a physical barrier
      • 3) isolation can cause speciation:
        • Things like floods and earthquakes can cause barriers that isolate some individuals from the main population
        • Conditions on either side of the barrier will be slightly different e.g they may have different climates
        • Because the environment is different on each side, different characteristics will become more common in each population
        • After a very long time, individuals from the different populations will have changed so much that they will have become separate species

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