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Evolution__3rd_Edition

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498 PART 4 / <strong>Evolution</strong> and Diversity<br />

Figure 17.3<br />

Changing American geographic<br />

distribution of beech (Fagus)<br />

and hemlock (Tsuga) as the<br />

polar ice cap retreated after the<br />

most recent ice age.<br />

The ice age caused changes in<br />

geographic distributions<br />

Hemlock<br />

Hemlock<br />

Beech<br />

Ice<br />

cap<br />

Hemlock<br />

Beech<br />

Ice<br />

cap<br />

Hemlock<br />

12,000 years ago 10,000 years ago 8,000 years ago<br />

Ice<br />

cap<br />

Beech<br />

Hemlock<br />

Beech<br />

6,000 years ago 500 years ago<br />

has been well documented from pollen records in the northern temperate zone through<br />

recent ice ages.<br />

The change can also be seen in the distribution of single species (Figure 17.3). The<br />

most recent ice age ended about 10,000 years ago. Figure 17.3 shows how the geographic<br />

distributions of hemlock and beech trees moved north through the USA as the<br />

temperature warmed up and the ice cap retreated. The same movements, southwards<br />

and northwards with the advance and retreat of the ice caps, has been shown in many<br />

species. Indeed the climate of a locality in past times in the fossil record can be inferred<br />

from which species were present. As the interglacials and glacials come and go, many<br />

species do not evolve (or do not observably evolve) a they simply move north and<br />

south.<br />

Ice<br />

cap<br />

Beech<br />

..

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