Question

Can someone please explain what this question is saying "Two species of a plant genus Ipomea share a common niche and reproductive pattern but are still unable to hybridize because they have structurally different flowers. What kind of reproductive isolation is observed in these two species?"
I'm not sure what a common niche and reproductive pattern means exactly.

Answer 1

Niche refers to the way a organism lives in its environment. So, a niche refers to all aspects of an organism: where it physically lives in an environment, what role it plays, what it eats, etc. Reproductive pattern is referring to the overall pattern of reproduction. For instances, humans, and nearly all mammals, reproduce via internal fertilization and incubate the young for a certain period of time. Bacteria reproduce by simple binary fission. This is highly similar to mitosis in Eukaryotes.

So, if they live in the same environment, fulfill the same niche, but still cannot hyberdize what does this mean? The key piece of info is the flower structure bit. How do many flowering plants get fertilized? @Jeleena3

Answer 2

@Jeleena3 Well, since it was over an hour ago I'll explain. Many species (of Angiospersms, flowering plants) that are closely related and shar the same niche but cannot hybridize must have some sort of pre-zygotic reproduction barrier. The fact that the flowers have different structures indicates that the flowers have evolved to be pollenated by different species. Eg, many flowers attract bees via colors and shapes, some by flies, and a giant host of other species.

Answer 3

So would that be temporal isolation? o:

Answer 4

@Jeleena3 It is reproductive isolation. Specifically, pre-zygotic reproduction barrier. See, because the are different shapes it is likely that they are pollenated by different species that do not go to the other flower. This is called pre-zygotic isolation because it prevents fertilization from occurring. A post-zygote isolation example is mules. Mules are a cross between horses and donkeys. They are perfectly healthy, but they are sterile. This means that the two species will never interbreed enough to form one species.

The reason it is not temporal isolation is because we are told the have a similar reproductive cycle. I take this to mean that they are both making pollen and flowers to to make seeds at the same time.

Answer 5

That wasn't one of the options, the options were temporal, mechanical, and behavioral isolation. I chose mechanical, because it made the most sense.

Answer 6

Thank you though!

Answer 7

@Jeleena3 Yep, that is it. Basically, I was just went into too much detail.