General 11

Biology 2

Quarter 3
Module 7
Patterns of Descent with
Modification

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 EXPECTATION
In the previous lesson, you have learned how different genetic
mechanisms change the gene and genotype frequencies and ultimately cause
change in populations. At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. define species according to the biological species concept;

2. distinguish the various types of reproductive isolating mechanisms that
can lead to speciation;
3. discuss the different modes of speciation; and,
4. explain how evolution produce the tremendous amount of diversity
among organisms.

PRETEST
Directions: Read the statements/questions comprehensively and choose the
letter of the best answer. Write the answer on the separate sheet of paper.
1. Which of the following statements about biological species is(are) correct?
I. Biological species is a group of individuals whose members interbreed
with one another
II. Biological species are the model used for grouping extinct forms of life.
III. Members of biological species produce viable, fertile offsprings
A. I only
B. II only
C. I and III
D. II and III

2. The following isolating mechanisms prevent fertilization and formation of

zygote except
A. Temporal isolation
B. Hybrid breakdown

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 C. Gametic isolation
D. Ecological isolation
For numbers 3-5, use the following choices:
A. Allopatric speciation
B. Sympatric speciation
C. Parapatric speciation
3. Occurrence of abrupt genetic change cause reproductive isolation between
groups of individuals.
4. It occurs when populations are separated by a geographic barrier.
5. Abrupt change in the environment over a geographic border and strong
disruptive selection affects gene flow between neighboring populations.

RECAP
Activity 7.1. Word Problem

Direction: Solve using the Hardy-Weinberg equation.

Gaucher disease (GD) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by the

deficiency of the β-glucocerebrosidase enzyme due to disease causing
mutations in the GBA1 (glucosidase beta acid) gene. This leads to the abnormal
accumulation of the lipid glucocerebroside in lysosomal macrophages. GD is a
rare genetically inherited trait that is only expressed in the phenotype of
homozygous recessive individuals (aa). The average human frequency of the
disease in the Philippines is only about 1 in 20,000.

LESSON

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 Attempts to define the concept of species date back to the Greek
philosophers Plato and Aristotle, who viewed the world as we know it as a flawed
shadow of the eternal and immutable world of ideas. Indeed, the word “species”
originates from the Latin “kinds” which is a translation of the Greek word eidos
(idea). Ernst Mayr played a central role in the establishment of the general
concept of species as metapopulation lineages, and he is the author of one of
the most popular of the numerous alternative definitions of the species
category. According to him, “Species are groups of interbreeding natural
populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups.” Another
definition based on George Gaylord Simpson, “species is a lineage (an ancestral-
descendant sequence of populations) evolving separately from others and with
its own unitary evolutionary role and tendencies.” Similarly, according to Leigh
Van Valen, “a species is a lineage (or a closely related set of lineages) which
occupies an adaptive zone minimally different from that of any other lineage in
its range and which evolves separately from all lineages outside its range.”
Let us take a look at Mayr’s definition, “populations that are
reproductively isolated from other such groups” and let us try to understand
what it means and the effect of isolation.

REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATING MECHANISMS

A. Pre-zygotic isolation mechanisms prevent fertilization and zygote formation.

1. Geographic or ecological or habitat isolation – potential mates occupy

different areas or habitats thus, they never come in contact. If two
populations of flies exist in the same geographical area, but one group lives
in the soil and another lives on the surface of the water, members of the two
populations are very unlikely to meet and reproduce.

2. Temporal or seasonal isolation – different groups may not be

reproductively mature at the same season, or month or year. Time is the
barrier that prevents species from interbreeding and producing sterile
hybrids. Timing of the day when they are sexually active, the best example
will be that of the two fruit fly species. Drosophila persimilis and Drosophila
pseudoobscura. The D. persimilis species are generally active in the early
morning, D. pseduobscura is active in the afternoon.

3. Behavioral isolation – patterns of courtship are different. For example,

male fireflies of a variety of species signal to their female counterparts by
flashing their lights in specific patterns. Females will only respond to the
signals flashed by their own species, preventing them from mating with
other closely related firefly species.

4. Mechanical isolation – differences in reproductive organs prevent

successful interbreeding. It is caused by structures or that keep species
isolated from one another. For example, in flowering plants, the shape of
the flower will tend to match up with a natural pollinator. Plants that do not
have the correct shape for the pollinator will not receive a pollen transfer.

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 5. Gametic isolation – incompatibilities between egg and sperm prevent
fertilization. There is a couple of possible reasons why the egg and sperm
cannot unite in cases of gametic isolation. First, sperm and eggs have
specific proteins on their surfaces that allow the sperm to recognize the egg
(and vice versa) and these proteins differ from species to species. So, if two
different species mate, the sperm may be unable to recognize the egg.
Another example of gametic isolation happens when the sperm is unable to
survive or will be less mobile in the reproductive tract of a female from a
different species.
B. Post-zygotic isolation mechanisms allow fertilization but nonviable or weak
or sterile hybrids are formed.

1. Hybrid in viability – fertilized egg fails to develop past the early

embryonic stages. When the zygote does form, but does not do so completely
and usually dies early in its life cycle.

2. Hybrid sterility – hybrids are sterile because gonads develop abnormally

or there is abnormal segregation of chromosomes during meiosis. When the
zygote does grow to become a hybrid or the offspring of two different species
of organisms, but the hybrid itself is unable to breed.

3. Hybrid breakdown - F1 hybrids are normal, vigorous and viable, but F2

contains many weak or sterile individuals. The hybrid is able to breed, but
future generations are not viable, sterile, or both.

Separate groups of organisms belonging to the same species may adapt in

different ways to better exploit diverse environments or resources. They also
may evolve varied characteristics for attracting mates. That is, different groups
evolve in different directions. Over time, these groups or populations may
become so different that they can no longer breed together--separate species
are formed. One species does not "turn into" another or several other species -
- not in an instant, anyway. The evolutionary process of speciation is how one
population of a species changes over time to the point where that population
is distinct and can no longer interbreed with the "parent" population. In order
for one population to diverge enough from another to become a new species,
there needs to be something to keep the populations from mixing. Often, a
physical boundary divides the species into two (or more) populations and keeps
them from interbreeding. If separated for long enough and presented with
sufficiently varied environmental conditions, each population takes its own
distinct evolutionary path. Evolution does not stop once a species becomes a
species. Every population of living organism is undergoing some sort of
evolution, though the degree and speed of the process varies greatly from one
group to another. Populations that experience a major change in environmental
conditions, whether that change comes in

the form of a new predator or a new island to disperse to, evolve much more
quickly than do populations in a more stable set of conditions. This is because
evolution is driven by natural selection, and because when the environment

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changes, selective pressures change, favoring one portion of the population
more heavily than it was favored before the change.

Speciation is how a new kind of plant or animal species is created.

Speciation occurs when a group within a species separates from other members
of its species and develops its own unique characteristics.

MODES OF SPECIATION

1. Allopatric speciation or geographic speciation (allo – other, patric – place;

‘other place’) - occurs when some members of a population become
geographically separated from the other members thereby preventing gene
flow. Examples of geographic barriers are bodies of water and mountain ranges.

2. Peripatric speciation. As in allopatric speciation, physical barriers make

it impossible for members of the groups to interbreed with one another. The
main difference between allopatric speciation and peripatric speciation is that
in peripatric speciation, one group is much smaller than the other. Unique
characteristics of the smaller groups are passed on to future generations of the
group, making those traits more common among that group and distinguishing
it from the others.

3. Parapatric speciation (para – beside, patric – place; ‘beside each other’) –

occurs when the groups that evolved to be separate species are geographic
neighbors. Gene flow occurs but with great distances is reduced. There is also
abrupt change in the environment over a geographic border and strong
disruptive selection must also happen.

4. Sympatric speciation (sym – same, patric – place; ‘same place’) - occurs

when members of a population that initially occupy the same habitat within
the same range diverge into two or more different species. It involves abrupt
genetic changes that quickly lead to the reproductive isolation of a group of
individuals. Example is change in chromosome number (polyploidization).

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ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITY 7.2: Compare and contrast

Directions: Using the Venn Diagram, give similarities and difference of the
types of reproductive isolating mechanisms.

Pre-zygotic Post-zygotic

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Activity 7.3: Complete the table.
Directions: Explain and give example for each type of reproductive isolating
mechanisms.
Pre-zygotic
Reproductive
Explanation Example
Isolating
Mechanisms

Habitat Isolation

Behavioral Isolation

Post-zygotic
Reproductive
Explanation Example
Isolating
Mechanisms

Hybrid inviability

Hybrid breakdown

Activity 7.4: Identification.

Directions: Give the type of isolating mechanism and tell whether it is pre-
zygotic or post-zygotic.
1. A group of bears were separated when the landmass they were living in
split up. One group eventually became black and brown bears, the other,
polar bears.
Type- ______________________ Pre/post -zygotic- ________________________

2. Horse and donkeys produce mules it is sterile.

Type- ____________________________ Pre/post -zygotic- ________________________

3. In some bee populations, only large bees are big enough to unfold flower
petals and obtain nectar and pollen.
Type- ____________________________ Pre/post -zygotic- ________________________

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4. A cross between two fish species occurs but developmental only occurs
up to the 16-cell stage.
Type- ____________________________ Pre/post -zygotic- _______________________

5. Two parents produce a hybrid offspring that lives only a short time and dies.

Type- ____________________________ Pre/post -zygotic- ________________________

WRAP–UP

Activity 7.5: Essay.

Direction: Explain your answer.

A common farming practice is to breed a female horse with a male donkey. The
result is a very robust animal – the mule. Most mules however are sterile, and
therefore cannot reproduce. Are horses and donkeys members of the same
species? Justify your answer.

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VALUING
“It is not the strongest of the species that
survives, nor the most intelligent, but the
one most responsive to change”- Charles
Darwin

Activity 7.6. Essay

Directions: In a minimum of 5 sentences, expound the quote from the “Father
of Evolution.”
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