Question

A scientist finds what she thinks is a new species of rodent on a small Pacific island. However, some similar-looking rodents inhabit some nearby islands. She mates the new rodent with the nearby rodents and gets viable but infertile offspring. Why?a) The new rodents probably derive from fairly recent ancestors that experienced dispersive allopatric speciation

b) The old and new rodents underwent vicariance, and they hybrid offspring were sterilized by adaptive radiation
c) The new and old rodents are both allopolploid are undergoing sympatric speciation
d) none of the above

Answer 1

Hello, answer is A

Step-by-step explanation:

The question mention a Pacific island, so these islands in Pacific ocean are not formed by a land or ground breaking, Pacific's islands arise from the sea's bottom when lava gets in touch with the water. So, we are not talking about an orginal population which was divided (vicariance) , we are talking about an original ancestor which occupied both islands long time ago and evolved into two new species (allopatric speciation)