Question

Evolution by natural selection occurs all around the world - hence why we sometimes discover new traits in certain organisms over periods of time. Lately in Orlando, desert lizards have been caught wandering the local forests. Orlando's lizard's meal consists of ants and small bugs, while the desert lizard's meals consists of decomposed remnants, and shrubs. Scientists concluded that as these species separated over generations, they both evolved into different species. Draw a conclusion about the genetic sequences of the desert and orlando lizard.

Answer 1

It is expected that both species show divergence in genes involved in adaptation to forest and desert environments, including genes involved in the digestion of different types of food

Step-by-step explanation:

According to evolutionary theory, those organisms better adapted to their environments have more chances to survive and reproduce, a process known as 'natural selection'. In consequence, the phenotypic adaptions of organisms of the same species living in different environments may eventually lead to speciation (this is because organisms better adapted to each environment will be selected). The phenotypic differentiation is expected to be correlated with genetic variation, especially in genes involved in trait has been selected. In this case, it is expected to observe nucleotide differences in genes have been associated with adaptations to forest and desert environments in lizard species.