Blog Assignment# 8: (Part 1 of 6 posts) Part 1 Darwin: An Origin of Species activity

Darwin: An Origin of Species activity

Enviornmental changes led to the speciation among the Pollenpeeper birds began with a hurrican that struck the Mainland Island in 5mya which reduced the Pollenpeeper's population by 10%. An example of Pollenpeeper's speciation because of enviornment can be taken from the remaining Pollenpeeper's that were left on Mainland Island within the timeline of 5mya to present.

5mya: About 12,000 Pollenpeeper's remain on the Mainland Island while 300 Pollenpeeper's have been scattered troughout the several offshore Islands. These offshore islands are the Nocross Island, Windsor Island & Warwich Archipelago Island.

4mya: The Pollenpeeper's population has fully recovered following the hurrican that hit it in 5mya. The Pollenpeeper's are now expanding their range north & south. The Pollenpeeper population continues to interbreed freely.

3mya: Northern and Southern populations begin to show differences in their appearance due to the interbreeding. Northern birds appear more red in the throat area and the breast area, they also have slightly narrower beaks. This is most likely due to the Northern birds feeding 0n insect larvae.

2mya: The Northern bird population plumage becaomes increasingly red and their beaks have become slightly larger and much more narrow.

1mya: Pollenpeeprs move regularly between the Mainland Island and Windsor Island and the populations between these islands interbreed inhibiting the divergence of the Windsor Island population. This interbreeding results in the offspring having reddish heads of the Windsor birds and the red breasts of the Mainland birds. Feral cats a predator of the Pollenpeeper's are hit hard with an epidemic called "Feline distemper" and decrease in population.

Present Day: Due to the decrease in population of the Feral cats which was a predator to the Pollenpeeper's the population of the birds increases by 15% over several generations. Over the generations a climate change also reduces the availabitlity of grass seeds to the Pollenpeepers which causes the short wide beaks that served well in previous conditions to diminish.