As a young biologist, Charles Darwin had expected the living plants of temperate
ID: 277625 • Letter: A
Question
As a young biologist, Charles Darwin had expected the living plants of temperate South America to resemble those of Europe, but was surprised that they more closely resembled the plants of tropical South America. What field of study is most properly associated with this discovery? Explain Darwin’s rationale prior to the discovery above, and then explain why you think temperate South American plants are more similar to their tropical counterparts then they are to temperate plants in other parts of the world.
Explanation / Answer
Biogeography field of study will be associated with this observation. This branch of study relates how species are distributed according to geographical areas and their related ecosystem.
Darwins expected to see same kind of living plant in temperate South America and Europe as both of the places share same kind of climate. Temperate climate represented by warm and sunny whether which is not too hot. On the other hand in tropical region, climates are quite hot and humid. However, in principle same kind of plant can be seen in temperate South America and tropical South America could be possible due to a same descent with modification. According to Darwin's pricipal of Decent with modifications, in each generation, new individuals will have mixingup of their parent and create variation in their genotype and phenotypical expressions.
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