the giant anteater of south america, the giant armadillo of north america, the giant pangolin of Africa and the spiny anteater of Oceania share many characteristics. They all eat ants, have long narrow snouts, few teeth and large salivary gland, yet they do not share a common ancestor. this is an example of which of the following?
A. genetic drift
B. founder effect
C. adaptive radiation
D. convergent evolution
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/convergent_evolution.htm
D. convergent evolution
The correct answer is D. convergent evolution.
Convergent evolution refers to the process by which unrelated species develop similar characteristics in order to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches. In this example, the giant anteater of South America, the giant armadillo of North America, the giant pangolin of Africa, and the spiny anteater of Oceania have independently evolved similar traits, such as eating ants, having long narrow snouts, few teeth, and large salivary glands.
To arrive at this answer, we can eliminate options A, B, and C:
A. Genetic drift refers to the random changes in the frequency of particular traits in a population due to chance events. It does not explain the shared characteristics observed in these different species.
B. The founder effect refers to a situation where a small group of individuals establish a new population, resulting in a loss of genetic diversity compared to the original population. Again, this does not explain the shared characteristics in these species.
C. Adaptive radiation, on the other hand, refers to the diversification of species from a common ancestor to occupy different ecological niches. Since the giant anteater, giant armadillo, giant pangolin, and spiny anteater do not share a common ancestor, adaptive radiation is not applicable here.
In contrast, convergent evolution explains the similarities in these species as a result of adapting to similar environments or ecological roles despite being completely unrelated.