In: Biology
Land and Sea. Our Grosberg et al. (2012)
reading on biodiversity on land and in the sea suggested that “The
evolutionary fates of clades making transitions among the great
realm depends on the inherent adaptability of their physiological
and developmental systems, as well as on the ability of incumbents
to exclude competitors that are initially poorly adapted to the new
medium.”
(A) How does this statement explain the success of plants
in terrestrial environments, and the fact that all land plants
share a single common ancestor that made this transition from water
to land?
(B) How does this statement explain why some animal
taxa, but not others, have been so successful in their movement to
and subsequent diversification in terrestrial environments? Please
give examples of specific taxa that and have not been successful in
your answer, perhaps from the table in the reading (which was
simplified in our slides).
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