The next few questions refer to the following description.
On the volcanic, equatorial West African island of Sao Tomé, two species of fruit fly exist. Drosophila yakuba inhabits the island's lowlands, and is also found on the African mainland, located about 200 miles away. At higher elevations, and only on Sao Tomé, is found the very closely related Drosophila santomea. The two species can hybridize, though male hybrids are sterile. A hybrid zone exists at middle elevations, though hybrids there are greatly outnumbered by D. santomea. Studies of the two species' nuclear genomes reveal that D. yakuba on the island is more closely related to mainland D. yakuba than to D. santomea (2n = 4 in both species). Sao Tomé rose from the Atlantic Ocean about 14 million years ago.
-Using only the information provided in the paragraph, which of the following is the best initial hypothesis for how D. santomea descended from D. yakuba?
A) geographic isolation
B) autopolyploidy
C) habitat differentiation
D) sexual selection
E) allopolyploidy

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Habitat differentiation is the best initial hypothesis for how D. santomea descended from D. yakuba, as the two species inhabit different elevations on the same island, suggesting that adaptation to different habitats (lowlands vs. high elevations) could have driven their divergence.

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