What evidence led to these decisions? There should be at least one line per pair Same or Different Species?The Species ContinuumBackgroundFor organisms that reproduce with a partner, scientists generally define a species as a group ofinterbreeding individuals that don't breed with other groups. Using this definition, it's sometimes veryclear when two organisms are separate species.Yet we also know that, through natural selection, populations change over time. How much does apopulation have to change before we can call it a new species?Part of the trickiness in defining a species comes from the fact that species do not often form in aninstant. Usually, speciation is a process that happens gradually over long periods of time-typicallythousands or even millions of years. What we can observe is just a snapshot of this process in time.Instructions1. Get a set of Organism cards.2. Read the information on each card, and decide whether you think the organisms described arethe same or different species, or somewhere in between. Look for key information, such as:Do they interbreed?Do they live in the same habitat?Do they have different heritable traits?Are there differences in their DNA?3. Arrange all of the cards in a line along a continuum:Definitely theDefinitelydifferent speciesSomewhere betweensame species Yellow and Olive BaboonsWestern & Eastern CoyotesCoyotes are a wild species related to wolves and dogs.Before about 1900, coyotes lived only in western NorthAmerica. As they gradually expanded eastward, the firstThese two types of baboons live in Africa. Because they livein mostly separate areas, and they have clear differences insocial structures, anatomy, and mating behavior, they areconsidered to be different species. Yet in an area in Kenya,they share a habitat. Where they meet, they interbreed,forming a "hybrid zone." For the most part, alleles fromthe olive population are making their way into the yellowzone, not vice versa. Genetic analysis suggests that thiswave of coyotes met-and bred with-wolves, and laterdogs, possibly because there weren't many coyote mates tobe found. Today the descendants of these animals, knownas eastern coyotes, live all over eastern North America, andthey mate with other coyotes rather than dogs or wolves.Yet they carry significant numbers of wolf and dog alleles,hybridization has been going on for a long time, and thatthe olive population is slowly extending into the habitat ofthe yellow population.which probably contribute to their larger size, diverse coatcolors, facial features, and other highly varied traits.Eurasian BlackcapsDark & Light Rock Pocket MiceA large group of these songbirds spend their summers inGermany, where they mate and raise their young, and theirwinters in Spain. Within the last 60 or so years, a subgroupIn the Southwestern United States, populations of rockhas started overwintering in Britain. It turns out thatmigration direction is genetically programmed, so theiroffspring go to Britain too. Because they have a shorterpocket mice live in dry, rocky habitats. Some rock pocketmouse habitats contain a mixture of light-colored rocksflight, the British overwintering population tends to arrivein Germany earlier, where they pair up and mate with eachother. This subpopulation is starting to look different, andinterwoven with dark black lava flows. If you set out trapson the light-colored rocks, you'll catch mostly light-coloredmice. On dark lava, you'll catch dark-colored mice. Yet themice show no preference for mates of either color, and theyfreely interbreed.DNA testing can accurately determine where a bird over-wintered about 85% of the time.

Question

What evidence led to these decisions? There should be at least one line per pair Same or Different Species?The Species ContinuumBackgroundFor organisms that reproduce with a partner, scientists generally define a species as a group ofinterbreeding individuals that don't breed with other groups. Using this definition, it's sometimes veryclear when two organisms are separate species.Yet we also know that, through natural selection, populations change over time. How much does apopulation have to change before we can call it a new species?Part of the trickiness in defining a species comes from the fact that species do not often form in aninstant. Usually, speciation is a process that happens gradually over long periods of time-typicallythousands or even millions of years. What we can observe is just a snapshot of this process in time.Instructions1. Get a set of Organism cards.2. Read the information on each card, and decide whether you think the organisms described arethe same or different species, or somewhere in between. Look for key information, such as:Do they interbreed?Do they live in the same habitat?Do they have different heritable traits?Are there differences in their DNA?3. Arrange all of the cards in a line along a continuum:Definitely theDefinitelydifferent speciesSomewhere betweensame species Yellow and Olive BaboonsWestern & Eastern CoyotesCoyotes are a wild species related to wolves and dogs.Before about 1900, coyotes lived only in western NorthAmerica. As they gradually expanded eastward, the firstThese two types of baboons live in Africa. Because they livein mostly separate areas, and they have clear differences insocial structures, anatomy, and mating behavior, they areconsidered to be different species. Yet in an area in Kenya,they share a habitat. Where they meet, they interbreed,forming a &#34;hybrid zone.&#34; For the most part, alleles fromthe olive population are making their way into the yellowzone, not vice versa. Genetic analysis suggests that thiswave of coyotes met-and bred with-wolves, and laterdogs, possibly because there weren't many coyote mates tobe found. Today the descendants of these animals, knownas eastern coyotes, live all over eastern North America, andthey mate with other coyotes rather than dogs or wolves.Yet they carry significant numbers of wolf and dog alleles,hybridization has been going on for a long time, and thatthe olive population is slowly extending into the habitat ofthe yellow population.which probably contribute to their larger size, diverse coatcolors, facial features, and other highly varied traits.Eurasian BlackcapsDark & Light Rock Pocket MiceA large group of these songbirds spend their summers inGermany, where they mate and raise their young, and theirwinters in Spain. Within the last 60 or so years, a subgroupIn the Southwestern United States, populations of rockhas started overwintering in Britain. It turns out thatmigration direction is genetically programmed, so theiroffspring go to Britain too. Because they have a shorterpocket mice live in dry, rocky habitats. Some rock pocketmouse habitats contain a mixture of light-colored rocksflight, the British overwintering population tends to arrivein Germany earlier, where they pair up and mate with eachother. This subpopulation is starting to look different, andinterwoven with dark black lava flows. If you set out trapson the light-colored rocks, you'll catch mostly light-coloredmice. On dark lava, you'll catch dark-colored mice. Yet themice show no preference for mates of either color, and theyfreely interbreed.DNA testing can accurately determine where a bird over-wintered about 85% of the time.

Accepted Answer

Interbreed: Mixing of two different varieties of species together to form a hybrid offspring.…