Since the Pleistocene ice age, deserts have been gradually forming in the southwestern United States. As the original lakes and rivers of this area shrank into isolated streams, ponds, and springs, the fishes living in them developed a strong potential for
A) hybrid inviability.
B) mechanical incompatibility.
C) hybridization.
D) temporal isolation.
E) speciation.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

As the water bodies became isolated, fish populations were separated, leading to genetic divergence and eventually speciation due to lack of gene flow between populations.

Since the Pleistocene Ice Age, Deserts Have Been Gradually Forming