(a) What is adaptive radiation.
(b) Explain with the help of suitable example where adaptive radiation has occurred to represent convergent evolution.

Explanation

(a) Adaptive radiation refers to the process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area starting from a point and literally radiating to other areas (b) Australian marsupials represent one of the best examples of adaptive radiation. A number of marsupials, each different from the other evolved from an ancestral stock. but all within the Australian island continent When more than one adaptive radiation appeared to have occurred in an isolated geographical area (representing different habitats]. it is called convergent evolution. (Darwin finches and placental mammals in Australia also exhibit adaptive radiation)