The Synthetic Theory of Evolution presents a number of tenets or claims. Explain the important implications of each of the five tenets listed below to the modern field of evolution.
Mutation rates are too low to explain evolutionary rates.
Gaps in the fossil record are the result of its incompleteness. Natural populations are genetically variable in the same manner as lab populations. There is a continuum of variation that extends past the species level to higher taxa like genera and families. Define outgroup comparison and explain how parsimony justifies its use. Explain how the concepts of paraphyly and homoplasy apply to area cladograms like those used in the field of vicariance biogeography.