Dr Losos Experiment Essay
1. In Dr. Losos’s experiment, why was it important that the experimental islands lacked lizards?
It was important that the experimental islands lacked lizards because it allowed each ecomorph to be isolated to make it easier to study their evolutions. It would also allow the species to adapt to the habitat without any competition from other lizards in its way.
2. Dr. Losos’s data suggest that after only a few generations, the lizards on the experimental islands have shorter legs on average than the lizards on the larger island. Explain how the data you collected either supports or does not support this claim.
The data I collected supported Dr. Losos's claim because it shows that because the environment on the island was more suited for …show more content…
If a species can not survive because its legs are too short, then the species with longer legs will survive and multiply. I believe that the average leg length of the population will shrink because of the environment/ecological niches of the experimental island. The advantage of longer legs is not benefit to their environment therefore the ones with shorter legs will survive better and will produce offspring with short legs. Therefore, the anoles with shorter legs will dominate the population in a process called natural selection. Natural selection was founded by Charles Darwin which is when organisms are better adapted to their environment will produce more offspring and survive. This is the main process of evolution that the the fittest organisms will survive. Anoles lizards developed these adaptations which are specific traits that are developed to improve function for lizards living in certain niches that allowed them to be beneficial in different environments. It is thought that the lizards spread out to several other islands, or if the lizards first inhabited different islands and then adapted to the environment. The environment of the small islands, which consists of small bushes and grass, differ from the environment of Iron Cay, which has varied vegetation. The experimental island favors shorter legged lizards therefore the lizards
It was important that the experimental islands lacked lizards because it allowed each ecomorph to be isolated to make it easier to study their evolutions. It would also allow the species to adapt to the habitat without any competition from other lizards in its way.
2. Dr. Losos’s data suggest that after only a few generations, the lizards on the experimental islands have shorter legs on average than the lizards on the larger island. Explain how the data you collected either supports or does not support this claim.
The data I collected supported Dr. Losos's claim because it shows that because the environment on the island was more suited for …show more content…
If a species can not survive because its legs are too short, then the species with longer legs will survive and multiply. I believe that the average leg length of the population will shrink because of the environment/ecological niches of the experimental island. The advantage of longer legs is not benefit to their environment therefore the ones with shorter legs will survive better and will produce offspring with short legs. Therefore, the anoles with shorter legs will dominate the population in a process called natural selection. Natural selection was founded by Charles Darwin which is when organisms are better adapted to their environment will produce more offspring and survive. This is the main process of evolution that the the fittest organisms will survive. Anoles lizards developed these adaptations which are specific traits that are developed to improve function for lizards living in certain niches that allowed them to be beneficial in different environments. It is thought that the lizards spread out to several other islands, or if the lizards first inhabited different islands and then adapted to the environment. The environment of the small islands, which consists of small bushes and grass, differ from the environment of Iron Cay, which has varied vegetation. The experimental island favors shorter legged lizards therefore the lizards