Adaptive radiation

Adaptive radiation is the diversification of one ancestral lineage into multiple forms adapted to different ecological opportunities. It often follows the arrival of new resources, the evolution of a key trait, or the opening of unoccupied habitats.

Ecological opportunity: Ecological opportunity is the availability of underused resources, habitats, or ways of life that organisms can exploit. New opportunities let descendants specialize in niches that the ancestral lineage used little or not at all.
Darwin's finches: Darwin's finches are a Galápagos group of songbirds whose species differ in beak form, diet, and song. Their varied beaks and diets illustrate diversification across food niches.
Charles Darwin: Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection. His observations of island species helped establish how divergence could accompany descent from common ancestors.
Species richness: Species richness is the number of species in a defined region or group. Radiations can produce unusually high species counts within a lineage or habitat.
Niche differentiation: Niche differentiation is the divergence of populations in how they use resources or habitats. Divergent resource use reduces competition and lets descendant forms coexist.
Hawaiian honeycreepers: Hawaiian honeycreepers are a diverse lineage of Hawaiian birds with varied forms and feeding adaptations. Their striking range of bill shapes tracks specialization on different island resources.
On the Origin of Species: On the Origin of Species is Charles Darwin's 1859 book presenting evolution by natural selection. Darwin used branching descent and ecological differences to explain the diversification of related forms.
Ecological speciation: Ecological speciation occurs when divergent natural selection between environments generates reproductive isolation. It explains how adaptation to different niches can help split populations into species.
Character displacement: Character displacement is evolutionary divergence in traits where competing species coexist, reducing overlap in resource use. Competition can sharpen differences among forms after they encounter one another.
African cichlids: African cichlids are a diverse family of fishes, especially abundant in the Great Lakes of East Africa. Lake cichlids demonstrate extensive ecological and morphological divergence within a lineage.

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