ACCT 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: George Gaylord Simpson, Paleontology, Character Displacement
20 Jul 2020
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Document Summary
Adaptive radiation is an event in which a lineage rapidly diversifies, with the newly formed lineages evolving different adaptations. Different factors may trigger adaptive radiations, but each is a response to an opportunity. George gaylord simpson (1902-1984) was an american palaeontologist, perhaps the most influential palaeontologist of the 20th century. He was a major participant in the modern evolutionary synthesis, and dispelled the myth that the evolution of the horse was a linear process. The width of the branches indicates the species richness. It is the earliest horse-like form, but was actually more dog-like than horse-like. It had a small brain case, the teeth included flattened, grinding molars and pre-molars, indicating herbivory. The shortness of tooth crowns indicates browsing not grazing. Grasses are in the eocene and became common in the miocene. They were common in the northern hemisphere in the early eocene. The two continents soon separated, so the descendants took different paths.
