Remote oceanic islands are famous for their endemic species—unique forms that occur nowhere else (see Quammen 1996 for a gripping and highly readable account). Consider the roles of migration and genetic drift in the establishment of new species on remote islands.
a. How do plant and animal species become established on remote islands? Do you think island endemics are more likely to evolve in some groups of plants and animals than others?
b. Consider a new population that has just arrived at a remote island. Is the population likely to be large or small? Will founder effects, genetic drift, and additional waves of migration from the mainland play a relatively large or a small role in the evolution of the new island population
(compared to a similar population on an island closer to the mainland)? Do your answers help explain why unusual endemic species are more common on remote islands than on islands close to the mainland?
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