Soon after the island of Hawaii rose above the sea surface (somewhat less than one million years ago), the evolution of life on this new island should have been most strongly influenced by ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The founder effect occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a larger population and establish a new population, and it can lead to a loss of genetic diversity. This is likely to have occurred on the newly formed island of Hawaii, where only a few organisms would have initially colonized the island. This would have had a strong influence on the evolution of life on the island, as the small founding population would have had a limited genetic diversity and unique traits that would have been different from the larger population they came from. Sexual selection (B) and habitat differentiation (C) may also have played a role in the evolution of life on the island, but the founder effect is the most directly relevant answer to the question. A genetic bottleneck (A) is similar to the founder effect, but it usually refers to a sudden reduction in population size rather than the founding of a new population.

Soon After the Island of Hawaii Rose Above the Sea