Question: The yellow-throated longclaw is a bird that lives on the dry savanna of Africa. It looks almost exactly like another bird, the western meadowlark of North America. Although the birds look very similar, they are not even in the same taxonomic family. Scientists think the birds look alike because the two species developed under similar environmental pressures, even though they developed thousands of miles apart. Which process does their development demonstrate?
Answer: convergent evolution
Hypothesis: an example of convergent evolution is two birds from different taxonomic families developing in separate environments under similar environmental pressures
Supporting facts: sent1: developing means making sent2: reproduction increases the number / population of a living thing sent3: to demonstrate means to exhibit sent4: two birds are not in the same taxonomic family sent5: an environment means an area sent6: an environment is similar to an ecosystem sent7: scientists make observations sent8: adaptations are used for survival sent9: similar means in common sent10: distant means far away sent11: two birds developed thousands of miles apart sent12: an environment is a kind of place sent13: a species is a group of a certain kind of organism sent14: two birds live in environments with similar characteristics sent15: the opposite of the same is different sent16: similarity means the same property sent17: the properties of something can be used to identify / used to describe that something sent18: environments with similar characteristics place similar environmental pressures on the organisms in them sent19: if two things are thousands of miles apart then those two things are separate from each other sent20: to convert means to change sent21: a bird is a kind of organism sent22: genes are able to determine the inherited characteristics of a living thing sent23: ability is a property of things and includes ordered values of able / unable / can / cannot sent24: distance is a property of space and includes ordered values of close / far sent25: convergent evolution is when two species in different taxonomic families develop in different places under similar environmental pressures
Reasoning: [BECAUSE] the opposite of the same is different [AND] two birds are not in the same taxonomic family [INFER] int1: two birds are in different taxonomic families [BECAUSE] two birds live in environments with similar characteristics [AND] environments with similar characteristics place similar environmental pressures on the organisms in them [INFER] int2: two birds developed under similar environmental pressures [BECAUSE] two birds developed thousands of miles apart [AND] if two things are thousands of miles apart then those two things are separate from each other [INFER] int3: two birds developed separate from each other [BECAUSE] int2 [AND] int3 [INFER] int4: two birds developed in separate environments under similar environmental pressures [BECAUSE] int1 [AND] int4 [INFER] int5: two birds from different taxonomic families developed in separate environments under similar environmental pressures [BECAUSE] a species is a group of a certain kind of organism [AND] a bird is a kind of organism [INFER] int6: a species can be a group of a certain kind of bird [BECAUSE] int6 [AND] convergent evolution is when two species in different taxonomic families develop in different places under similar environmental pressures [INFER] int7: convergent evolution can be when two kinds of birds in different taxonomic families develop in different places under similar environmental pressures [BECAUSE] int5 [AND] int7 [INFER] int8: an example of convergent evolution is two birds from different taxonomic families developing in separate environments under similar environmental pressures