TASK DEFINITION: In this task you will be given a text passage from a trivia quiz. You should choose the category this question belongs to from these categories: History, Science, Social Science, Fine Arts, Literature. You can only choose one category, so if in doubt, please choose the closest match.
PROBLEM: Founder-flush models of this phenomenon propose that it may result from repeated bottlenecks. Changes of ploidy in plants can cause this process due to the frequent sterility of the resulting offspring. The(*) sympatric version of this phenomena occurs between populations in the same region, and punctuated equilibria are a sign of the allopatric variety of this process in the fossil record. For 10 points, name this biological process, in which populations become reproductively isolated and diverge, leading to the formation of new species.

SOLUTION: Social Science

PROBLEM: One character in this novel receives news of her brother's death from her father while he uses a lathe. This novel's protagonist develops a friendship with Platon Karataev, a peasant he meets in a prisoner of war camp. Another character, Nikolai, is led to financial ruin after(*) losing 40,000 roubles to Dolokov. Andrei Bolkonski is wounded in battle following the end of his engagement to Natasha Rostova, who falls in love with the novel's protagonist. For 10 points, name this gargantuan Leo Tolstoy novel about Pierre Bezukhov set during the Napoleonic Wars.

SOLUTION: Literature

PROBLEM: god turned the intrusive Agraulos to stone for easier access to her sister Herse, and he laid a trap so he could catch and rape the swift Cretan princess Apemosyne. He's not Poseidon, but this deity turned Battos to stone and Hierax into a hawk for tattling on two of his exploits. In one story, this deity wins back the sinews of Zeus from Typhon, and he kills the giant Hippolytos with a golden sword. This god is robbed by Arabs in one of Aesop's fables. He was honored by namesake rectangular sculptures topped with his head and usually placed at crossings and boundaries. This god's most sacred ground was the place of his birth, Mt. Kyllene, and along with Zeus he rewarded Philemon and Bauchis for their hospitality. As a child, this god crafted the first lyre after stealing Apollo's cattle. For 10 points, name this owner of the caduceus and some winged sandals, the Greek messenger god.

SOLUTION:
Social Science