Adaptive radiation

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Four of the 13 finch species found on the Galápagos Archipelago, and thought to have evolved by an adaptive radiation that diversified their beak shapes to adapt them to different food sources.
Four of the 13 finch species found on the Galápagos Archipelago, and thought to have evolved by an adaptive radiation that diversified their beak shapes to adapt them to different food sources.

Adaptive radiation describes the rapid speciation of a single or a few species to fill many ecological niches. This is an evolutionary process driven by mutation (heritable/genetic variation) and natural selection.

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Isolated ecosystems, such as archipelagos and mountain areas, can be colonized by a species which, upon establishing itself, undergoes rapid divergent evolution. Monotremes and marsupials are examples of geographic isolation. Monotremes evolved before the evolution of placental mammals, and they are found today only in Australia, an island. Marsupials, which also evolved before the appearance of placental mammals are also common in Australia. In Australia, marsupials evolved to fill many ecological niches that placental mammals fill on other continents.

Adaptive radiation can also occur after mass extinctions. The best example of this is after the Permian-Triassic extinction event, where biodiversity increased massively in the Triassic. The end of the Ediacaran and the beginnings of multicellular life lead to adaptive radiations and the genesis of new phyla in the Cambrian period.

In science fiction sometimes adaptive radiation of humans is imagined. This often makes for interesting multi-species worlds.

  • Wilson, E. et al. Life on Earth, by Wilson,E.; Eisner,T.; Briggs,W.; Dickerson,R.; Metzenberg,R.; O'brien,R.; Susman,M.; Boggs,W.; (Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers, Stamford, Connecticut), c 1974. Chapters: The Multiplication of Species; Biogeography, pp 824-877. 40 Graphs, w species pictures, also Tables, Photos, etc. Includes Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, and Australia subcontinent, (plus St. Helena Island, etc.).
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