DAT Review Questions (Dental Admissions)

Answer: E, The statement about adaptive radiation that is false is that adaptive radiation is not driven by natural selection. The process occurs as the result of natural selection.

Key Takeaway: Adaptive radiation is a rapid evolutionary process characterized by an increase in the morphological and ecological diversity of a single, rapidly dividing lineage. It often occurs in organisms without a defined niche, as the species may radiate rapidly to take advantage of all of the unoccupied niches. In Lake Victoria, a lake in the African rift valley, over 300 new species radiated from a single lineage over the course of 15,000 years.