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Genbio

Biogeography is the study of species and ecosystem distribution across geographic space and time, revealing patterns influenced by factors like latitude and elevation. It provides insights into evolutionary histories, particularly through concepts like evolutionary biogeography, fossil evidence, endemic species, and the Wallace Line. These elements illustrate how geological changes, such as the splitting of Pangea, have shaped the distribution and evolution of organisms on Earth.

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Cecille Ocampo
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16 views2 pages

Genbio

Biogeography is the study of species and ecosystem distribution across geographic space and time, revealing patterns influenced by factors like latitude and elevation. It provides insights into evolutionary histories, particularly through concepts like evolutionary biogeography, fossil evidence, endemic species, and the Wallace Line. These elements illustrate how geological changes, such as the splitting of Pangea, have shaped the distribution and evolution of organisms on Earth.

Uploaded by

Cecille Ocampo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is biogeography?

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic


space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in
a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat
area. The geographical distribution of species can help us reconstruct their evolutionary
histories.

Evidence for Evolution: Biogeography


Evolutionary biogeography states that organisms broadly grouped together will show a
unique distributional pattern which will explain their existence on Earth with respect to
the ever moving tectonic plates and a constantly changing geological timeline. Take for
say the supercontinent Pangea which existed around 200 million years ago and later
gradually began splitting. Organisms that had already evolved before the split and are
placed in broad categories tend to be found universally. On the contrary, evolved
organisms after the split are found in some distinct regions across Earth. For example,
there are unique groups of plants and animals on the southern and northern continents,
which came from the division of pangea, which caused split into 2 supercontinents
(Laurasia in the north, Gondwana in the south).

Evidences:
Fossil Evidences across the continents
Endemic species
Wallace line

- FOSSIL EVIDENCES ACROSS THE CONTINENTS


Fossil evidence provides a record of how the creatures/species evolved and how this
process can be represented by a ‘tree of life’. Also, it provides the discovery of similar
types of fossils on different continents that are now geographically separated.

- ENDEMIC SPECIES
Endemic species are crucial to the health of our planet because of the enormous
variety of living beings they contribute to the environment. Endemic species refers
to plants or animals that are only found in a specific geographic region, making them
particularly vulnerable to extinction because if their habitat is threatened, they cannot
easily move elsewhere to survive.

- WALLACE LINE
The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred
Russel Wallace and named by the English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. Wallace
discovered that the animal species found to the west of the line were all similar to, or
derived from, species found on the Asian mainland whilst the species found to the east
of the line were largely of Australian descent. Along the line itself, there was a mix of
species, including some hybrid species.

Q&A
2. How can fossils show that certain traits are evolutionary outcomes?
Fossils show that they evolved overtime by showing how organisms have changed
through their anatomy. Using the dating method or other methods, scientists determine
the age of the fossils and categorize them all over.

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