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Direct Hit

Theme A - Unity & diversity

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Page Facing Up

Theme B - Form & Function

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Pill

Theme C - Interaction &  Interdependence

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Keycap Digit One

Theme D - Continuity & Change

<ul>
	<li>Think of speciation as a bit like a band breaking up. One band (species) becomes two, or more! This process is when a species splits into two or more different species.</li>
	<li>So, how does a &quot;band&quot; break up in the world of species? Well, it&#39;s through reproductive isolation and differential selection.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Let&#39;s start with Reproductive Isolation. It&#39;s like a romance novel where the lovers can&#39;t be together anymore.</li>
	<li>Species are usually all about mixing genes through interbreeding, but speciation is the complete opposite - it requires separation!</li>
	<li>Imagine a school dance (interbreeding) where everyone gets to mingle. If we want speciation, it&#39;s like creating a wall that divides the dance floor, preventing gene flow. Suddenly, the dancers (genes) on either side can&#39;t mix anymore.</li>
	<li>Picture the dance floor like a gene pool - a big, diverse party of different genes.</li>
	<li>Geographical separation is like a literal wall in our dance floor analogy. Just like a huge mountain, a wide river, or an ocean could split species into separate populations, and prevent them from &#39;dancing&#39; together.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Next up, differential selection, which is like a dance-off where different populations of a species get to show off their unique moves.</li>
	<li>While natural selection can change a population&#39;s traits, if all populations are doing the same dance (experiencing the same natural selection), they will not become separate species.</li>
	<li>But if they start to create their own unique routines (experience different selection pressures) - that&#39;s where the magic (differential selection) happens!</li>
	<li>These distinct dance styles become more and more different. When the judges (taxonomists) decide that the divergence is significant enough, voila! We have new dance categories, or rather, new species!</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Just as different dance troops can develop in different locations, the same goes for species.</li>
	<li>For instance, a new population might move to an island where they face different climates, predators, or competition for resources.</li>
	<li>An excellent real-world example is the story of the lava lizards of the Gal&aacute;pagos archipelago.</li>
	<li>Picture it like this: One band (species) of lizards went on a world tour (migrated) to six smaller islands. These different tour locations (islands) came with their unique vibes (different selection pressures).</li>
	<li>Over time, our lizard band split into six distinct bands (species), each with their own music style, thanks to the different vibes (selection pressures) of their respective tour locations.</li>
	<li>Scientists (cladistics research) even think that there were two separate world tours (migrations) from mainland South America to the Gal&aacute;pagos!</li>
	<li>This is an example of speciation due to geographical isolation and differential selection.</li>
</ul>

So, there you have it! A fun, dance-filled journey through speciation, reproductive isolation, and differential selection. Remember, it&#39;s all about the band breaking up, the school dance being split, and the dancers developing unique routines.

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Happy studying! 🕺💃🔬

Unlocking Speciation Role of Isolation & Selection

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Higher Level

Biology HL

Theme A - Unity & diversity

Unlocking Speciation Role of Isolation & Selection

Table of content

Speciation 🦋

Reproductive isolation 🏝️

Unlock the Full Content!

Theme A - Unity & diversity

Unlocking Speciation Role of Isolation & Selection

Table of content

Speciation 🦋

Reproductive isolation 🏝️

Unlock the Full Content!