Extinction and speciation
- Created by: chelsey866
- Created on: 08-03-14 21:05
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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
- Extinction happens if you can't evolve quickly enough
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