Science Homework Help
Los Angeles Valley College Speciation Research
Goal
Explain the process of speciation through an example.
Prompt
Speciation occurs via macroevolution – a process of many steps over many generations. Use a made-up pretend species of primate to tell the story of how a new species evolved. Connect it to natural selection, allopatric speciation, and one of the primate evolution hypotheses discussed in the Week 2 module.
Instructions
You are exploring a remote area in Ecuador, and discover two species of unknown primate living on either side of a large river. The species to the north is large, only sees in two colors, and eats mostly leaves. On the south side, you find a smaller species that feeds mainly on small flowering plants and fruits and has trichromatic vision.
Use this storyboard worksheet to explain each step in the process that has led to the evolution of these two species seen today in a sentence or two, and draw a diagram in each box to show what happened. You will need to imagine what their ancestor species looked like, what happened to start the divergence of the two populations, and the selection pressures that favored the different traits seen in the two species you see today.
This is an imaginary example and you should tell a made-up story. Do not do any research or reading beyond the chapter – I’m looking for plausible stories and events that illustrate the theories, not true facts about existing primate species.
- Open it in Word or Google Docs
- Three options for completing the table:
- Fill it out on the computer: On the computer, you can use symbols or line drawings to create the diagram you want. Please DO NOT use clip art or copied diagrams/images from online sources. These may show the right information but don’t help your ability to explain it. The actual drawing and explaining will help you understand it better. Resubmit the finished document.
- Print it out and draw and write by hand. Take a photo to submit.
- Use your own paper (or whiteboard etc) to recreate the table or a panel for each of the 4 sources. Take a photo (or 4) to submit.
- Upload the finished document or a photo of your hand-written version back into the assignment.
