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A Florida theme park began a new promotion to attract visitors from New England and the Midwest. Free alligators were given away to residents of these two areas if they booked their trip between March and October and stayed at one of the resort hotels. Thousands of families took advantage of this offer, carried their baby alligators back home, and raised them over the winter. By the following spring, most of the adopted alligators had grown too large to keep at home. Many parents decided that the nearest river would provide the best habitat and released their alligators to the wild. Several years later, the expected proliferation of alligators had not occurred. The rivers were free of alligators as they had been before the pets were released. As the head of a local newspaper, you are presented three stories attempting to explain the fate of the "missing" alligators. Determine whether any of these three explanations are valid and can be supported by principles of evolutionary change and extinction described above. Explain why you consider each of the following proposed stories to be valid or invalid. Proposed Story #1: This is an example of directional selection which occurs when members of a new species migrate to a new habitat with different environmental conditions. This selection acted against those alligators most sensitive to cold weather. Changes in the gene pool led to the formation of a species of alligator that was adapted to local conditions. These allligators migrated along the rivers and established territories in new locations around the Midwest and New England areas. Proposed Story #2: This is an example of speciation. The isolated alligators had evolved into terrestrial species that foraged in nearby wooded areas. Proposed Story #3: The alligators were most likely not able to adapt to their new environment. Extreme weather changes occurred too rapidly for evolutionary change to occur. The released alligators were killed by the winter cold.

A Florida theme park began a new promotion to attract visitors from New England and the Midwest. Free alligators were given away to residents of these two areas if they booked their trip between March and October and stayed at one of the resort hotels. Thousands of families took advantage of this offer, carried their baby alligators back home, and raised them over the winter. By the following spring, most of the adopted alligators had grown too large to keep at home. Many parents decided that the nearest river would provide the best habitat and released their alligators to the wild. Several years later, the expected proliferation of alligators had not occurred. The rivers were free of alligators as they had been before the pets were released. As the head of a local newspaper, you are presented three stories attempting to explain the fate of the "missing" alligators. Determine whether any of these three explanations are valid and can be supported by principles of evolutionary change and extinction described above. Explain why you consider each of the following proposed stories to be valid or invalid. Proposed Story #1: This is an example of directional selection which occurs when members of a new species migrate to a new habitat with different environmental conditions. This selection acted against those alligators most sensitive to cold weather. Changes in the gene pool led to the formation of a species of alligator that was adapted to local conditions. These allligators migrated along the rivers and established territories in new locations around the Midwest and New England areas. Proposed Story #2: This is an example of speciation. The isolated alligators had evolved into terrestrial species that foraged in nearby wooded areas. Proposed Story #3: The alligators were most likely not able to adapt to their new environment. Extreme weather changes occurred too rapidly for evolutionary change to occur. The released alligators were killed by the winter cold.

Applications and Investigations in Earth Science (9th Edition)
Applications and Investigations in Earth Science (9th Edition)
9th Edition
ISBN:9780134746241
Author:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. Tasa
Publisher:Edward J. Tarbuck, Frederick K. Lutgens, Dennis G. Tasa
Chapter1: The Study Of Minerals
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1LR
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A Florida theme park began a new promotion to attract visitors from New England and the Midwest. Free alligators were given away to residents of these two areas if they booked their trip between March and October and stayed at one of the resort hotels. Thousands of families took advantage of this offer, carried their baby alligators back home, and raised them over the winter. By the following spring, most of the adopted alligators had grown too large to keep at home. Many parents decided that the nearest river would provide the best habitat and released their alligators to the wild. Several years later, the expected proliferation of alligators had not occurred. The rivers were free of alligators as they had been before the pets were released. As the head of a local newspaper, you are presented three stories attempting to explain the fate of the "missing" alligators. Determine whether any of these three explanations are valid and can be supported by principles of evolutionary change and extinction described above. Explain why you consider each of the following proposed stories to be valid or invalid. Proposed Story #1: This is an example of directional selection which occurs when members of a new species migrate to a new habitat with different environmental conditions. This selection acted against those alligators most sensitive to cold weather. Changes in the gene pool led to the formation of a species of alligator that was adapted to local conditions. These allligators migrated along the rivers and established territories in new locations around the Midwest and New England areas. Proposed Story #2: This is an example of speciation. The isolated alligators had evolved into terrestrial species that foraged in nearby wooded areas. Proposed Story #3: The alligators were most likely not able to adapt to their new environment. Extreme weather changes occurred too rapidly for evolutionary change to occur. The released alligators were killed by the winter cold.
Transcribed Image Text:A Florida theme park began a new promotion to attract visitors from New England and the Midwest. Free alligators were given away to residents of these two areas if they booked their trip between March and October and stayed at one of the resort hotels. Thousands of families took advantage of this offer, carried their baby alligators back home, and raised them over the winter. By the following spring, most of the adopted alligators had grown too large to keep at home. Many parents decided that the nearest river would provide the best habitat and released their alligators to the wild. Several years later, the expected proliferation of alligators had not occurred. The rivers were free of alligators as they had been before the pets were released. As the head of a local newspaper, you are presented three stories attempting to explain the fate of the "missing" alligators. Determine whether any of these three explanations are valid and can be supported by principles of evolutionary change and extinction described above. Explain why you consider each of the following proposed stories to be valid or invalid. Proposed Story #1: This is an example of directional selection which occurs when members of a new species migrate to a new habitat with different environmental conditions. This selection acted against those alligators most sensitive to cold weather. Changes in the gene pool led to the formation of a species of alligator that was adapted to local conditions. These allligators migrated along the rivers and established territories in new locations around the Midwest and New England areas. Proposed Story #2: This is an example of speciation. The isolated alligators had evolved into terrestrial species that foraged in nearby wooded areas. Proposed Story #3: The alligators were most likely not able to adapt to their new environment. Extreme weather changes occurred too rapidly for evolutionary change to occur. The released alligators were killed by the winter cold.
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