Adaptive Radiation

Courtney J Murren, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001782

Adaptive radiation is a diversification of a single lineage into morphologically or physiologically distinct taxa that are adapted to a certain set of environmental conditions.

Keywords: key innovation; diversification; galapagos finches; hawaiian flora and fauna

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of an adaptive radiation. The outgroup (species A) is the representative of an ancestral species that diverged prior to the diversification of the rest of the species (designated B–K). Three clades within a monophyletic group are considered (numbers 1–3) and are found in different environments. Dashed lines correspond to three different phenotypic characters that are found in all species within the group but not found in the other two groups. This unique character is an adaptation to the environment where that clade is found, which has allowed for the diversification within the clade.
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    book Wagner WL and Funk VA (1995) Hawaiian Biogeography: Evolution on a Hot Spot Archipelago. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Adaptive Evolution | Diversification of Plants and Animals | Macroevolution | Selection and Variation | Extinction and Radiation | Evolutionary Ecology
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Article Title: Adaptive Radiation
 
How to Cite close
Murren, Courtney J(Apr 2001) Adaptive Radiation. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0001782]