Allopatric Speciation!
Storyboard Description
This comic strip articulates and illustrates how isolation can lead to speciation and differentiate between the mechanisms that effect evolution.
Storyboard Text
- Yeah, I agree. Nothing can ever break us apart.
- Allopatric Speciation!
- We are one strong population.
- There is a population of Capra aegagrus hircus (goats), living in the mountains, by the lake.
- We are all one happy population with different colours and features.
- Our different features don't affect us in any way. We are all still one.
- Oh nooo!!! This can't be happening right now.
- What is going on?????
- Suddenly, a major flood occurs, separating the goats. Some goats are now in the mountains, while some are stranded by the lake.
- Allopatric speciation is the term used to describe the speciation that took place between two populations of the same species that had drifted apart due to geographical barriers. Populations gradually change into new species through a process called speciation.
- Some goats have white, thicker fur that make them more suitable for the mountains than the brown goats. Additionally, the brown goats are more suitable for their habitat by the lake.
- I need to go up in the mountains. I can't be stranded by the lake forever.
- Me neither.
- I can't survive in these mountains anymore.
- A population is made up of individuals of the same species who can reproduce with one another and ensure the survival of the species.
- Eventually, the goats separated into 2 species. The white goats have died out and shifted to the mountains.The light and dark brown goats are now called the Alpines. The alpines have an easier time surviving in their habitat by the lake. They mate with others who also have an easier time living by this specific habitat.
- WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!
- We are now called the Alpines!!
- This is Geographic Isolation. Geographic Isolation occurs when geographic barriers divide two populations.
- The brown goats have died out and shifted by the lakes. The white goats are now called the Mountain goats. Similar to the alpines, the mountain goats have an easier time surviving in the mountains. They mate with others who also have an easier time surviving in the same habitat.
- We are the mountain goats!!
- This is called Variation. The changes between organisms of the same species that are relied on by genetic and environmental factors are known as variation.
- I can't stop thinking about our fellow white goats that died by the lake.
- Natural selection is the process through which species of plants and animals that are most adaptable to their environment survive and reproduce while those that are less suitable die out.
- The fittest species have a higher chance of surviving and passing on their traits to their offspring, creating a population that is more adapted to its surroundings. Less fit species are less likely to pass on their genes to the following generation. Increased reproductive ability, such as the abilities to attract a mate, can also be used to measure fitness. Individuals who are more well-adapted are more likely to have more children and successfully pass on their genes to future generations.
- When the goats meet again, they are completely different species. They are unable to interbreed and produce fertile offspring due to mechanisms of reproductive isolation. At last, there are now two different populations of goats that originally stemmedfrom one.
- Genetic inheritance outlines how traits are passed down from one generation to the next. Genetic inheritance happens as a result of DNA being passed from one set of parents to their offspring. When organisms reproduce, the DNA passed down from the parent generation contains all the information necessary for development, survival, and reproduction for the following generation.
- The offspring of the goats inherit traits from the parents which help them to survive in their specific habitat and further reproduce their own offspring.
- Thank god, I'm safe by the lake. There would've been no chance of us surviving in the mountains.
- An adaptation refers to a physical or behavioural feature of an animal that enhances its ability to survive in its environment. It is something an individual does or has on them that makes it easier for them to locate food, water, mates, and habitat.
- On the bottom side by the lakes, the alpine goats are thriving with their brown coats that helps them blend with their environment.
- To protect themselves from chilly temperatures and harsh mountain winds, mountain goats acquire distinctive beards and long, thick coats. They blend in well on the snow-covered peaks due to their brilliant white coats of fur.
- A species is a group of individuals who have a number of traits in common and are able to breed with one another to create viable offspring. Any offspring are typically sterile when individuals of one species mate with members of another species.
- Hello! Long time no see. Should we try to produce some offspring?
- That's impossible since we are two different species. If we try to produce, our offspring will be sterile.
- The End...
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