Question

You are traveling across the Pacific Ocean when you come across a small island, island #1. There is lush vegetation and several species of beetles that vary in the color of their carapace. The colors you find are green, blue, purple, and black. A second island 200 miles closer to the mainland (island #2) is mostly sand with some palm trees and has a single species of beetle that has a brown carapace. You examine the colored beetles and discover that they are all related and that they are related to the brown species on the second island. Which of the following is the most likely scenario?

(a). The brown beetle migrated to island #1 and gave rise to the colored species on island #2 through adaptive radiation.
(b). The colored species of beetle on island #1 migrated to island #2 and gave rise to the brown beetle through extinction.
(c). The brown beetle evolved from the colored beetles on island #1 and then migrated to island #2.
(d). The brown beetle gave rise to all of the colored beetles on island #2 which then migrated to island #1.
(e). A beetle of some undetermined color gave rise to all of the colors of beetle brown, green, purple, and black and they then migrated to different islands.

Answer 1

The correct answer is (a). The brown beetle migrated to island #1 and gave rise to the colored species on island #2 through adaptive radiation.

Step-by-step explanation:

As there are no brown beetles on the island 1, and island 2 has less biodiversity of plants, it's possible to think that the brown beetle migrated to island 1 where there are many kinds of different plants, which would lead to the adaptation of these organisms resulting in many different species.