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Adaptive Radiation
By: Bobby Caldwell
What is adaptive radiation? Well what adaptive radiation’s definition is,
“evolution of ecological and phenotypic diversity within a rapidly multiplying lineage?”
But all that really is diversification of a species or single ancestral type into several forms
that are each adaptively specialized to a specific environmental niche. Classic examples
of this are the 14 finches on the Galapagos Islands examined by Charles Darwin. It was
almost obvious that they came from a common ancestor or ancestral population. They
had many similarities but each had its own way of life.
There are 4 features to help identify the possible situation of adaptive radiation:
 Common ancestry of component species
 Phenotype-environment correlation
 Trait utility
 Rapid speciation