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Evolution

Question
CBSEENBI12000482

What is adaptive radiation ? Show how adaptive radiations gave rise to a variety of marsupials in Australia ?

Solution
Adaptive radiations. Evolutionary process of giving rise to new species adapted to new habitats, conditions and ways of life is called adaptive radiations.

It can be explained with an example of marsupial mammals present in Australia due to different geographical locality have similar habitat but have different species.  A number of marsupials, each different from the other (Figure 7.6) evolved from an ancestral stock, but all within the Australian island continent. When more than one adaptive radiation appeared to have occurred in an isolated geographical area.