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Steven Luna and Hudson Bacchetti. Period 5 Biology. We chose to investigate the evolution of a sturgeon.

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Steven Luna and Hudson Bacchetti. Period 5 Biology. We chose to investigate the evolution of a sturgeon.

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Variation: Through the years, sturgeon have changed their appearance and size. They began very small and quite quickly grew for survival. Today some are even the size of cars.
Inheritance: Dinosaurs are believed to be ancestors of the sturgeon. This would explain some of their appearance and survival techniques.
Selection: Sturgeon have developed strong bony plated armor for protection and have very few predators. This has allowed them to be on earth so long.
Time: The sturgeon has been on this earth since the Triassic period which makes them about 208-245 million years old.

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As time went on, Sturgeon grew to bigger sizes and became stronger fish. This made them more of predators and less of prey. They grew long whiskers to help them sense and get a feel for their prey. They even developed stronger bones and provided them with more protection from larger predators. Some examples of these are denticles and scutes. The Lake Sturgeon also has a flat head which makes it easy to move around in the bottom of the ocean and this makes it a bottom feeder.

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The sturgeon is a native species to North America. Today they roam in lakes and fresh water estuaries. Just like before, they like to migrate home (North America) to lay their eggs and reproduce. So basically, these fish have always been in what is now the North American region of land and continue to swim around here freely.

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Divergent, Convergent, and Parallel Evolution

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Divergent, Convergent, and Parallel Evolution

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We couldn't find too much information surrounding which type of evolution occurred for the sturgeon but we do understand the topic. Divergent evolution is when one trait evolves into two separate traits. Convergent evolution is when two different species evolve similar traits. Parallel evolution is when two species with a common ancestor evolve similar traits independent of each other.

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Genetic Drift is one of the main causes in the loss of genetic variation. This occurred over time.

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There isn't really any known species that we have discovered that share some of the same bone types and functions as the sturgeon. There for there is not anything that I could accurately include in the homologous structures box.

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There was nothing in my research on any useless organs of the sturgeon.

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After tests were practiced, mutation rates of sturgeon seem to be relatively low. Out of 13,228 sturgeon tested in this experiment, there were 11 mutations detected from parent to offspring. This isn't a whole lot but over time these do add up and that's what has been happening since the Triassic period.

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After being tested in labs, it has been proven that sturgeon have a slower rate of molecular evolution. This includes all Acipenseriformes. This means that over time, the amount of molecular evolution that has taken place isn't very much and this is because the slow rate that takes place.