There is an island in the middle of a large river that houses a large population of ants. Damming of the river causes the island to flood and only the highest points of the island are now above water. The ants cannot swim, so are now in multiple isolated populations. Which of the following best describes this event?

Completed Q.

There is an island in the middle of a large river that houses a large population of ants. Damming of the river causes the island to flood and only the highest points of the island are now above water. The ants cannot swim, so are now in multiple isolated populations. Which of the following best describes this event?

A. isolation by dispersal

B. isolation by vicariance

C. a form of sympatric speciation

D. only a rare development of polyploidy could lead to speciation in this case

E. speciation will not occur in this case because of gene flow

Answer

B. isolation by vicariance

Explanation:

The ant population was  separated  by an external factor  which  leads  to habitat fragmentation. And the resulted  disjoined distribution of ( ants) ended up in different isolated population. Since ants  from their new habitats can not cross to other isolated habitats;  and  the  ant population did not move out of the habitat on their own to from an isolated population but the new  habitat was due to  fragmentation by  natural occurrence( flooding) and not by movements of the ants by themselves   Then t is isolation by vicariance.

Therefore option B is the answer.

However if these ants  can cross from one isolated habitat to another it will be isolated by dispersal.  so  B is the answer.

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