Question

Which process of evolution best describes the following example:

Elephants and Wholly Mammoth originated from a common ancestor.
Captionless Image
O Extinction
O Gradualism
O Convergent Evolution
Divergent Evolution

Answer 1

Divergent evolution is the process by which elephants and Woolly Mammoths evolved from a common ancestor, giving rise to a variety of species with different traits adapted to different environments. Therefore, the correct option is D.

Step-by-step explanation:

The process of evolution that best describes the example where elephants and Woolly Mammoths originated from a common ancestor is divergent evolution. Divergent evolution occurs when two or more species share a common ancestor but diverge into different forms, adapting to different environments or niches. This leads to a variety of species with different traits derived from a common root in the phylogenetic tree, much like the branching event diagrammed in Darwin's On the Origin of Species.

Charles Darwin envisioned speciation as a branching event, where one species gives rise to multiple species over time. This can be seen in the modern-day elephants that evolved from the Palaeomastodon, a species that lived 35-50 million years ago in Egypt. As elephants and their ancestors adapted to different environments, they gradually evolved distinct characteristics through natural selection.