Question

Think about the distribution of humans and the range of environments in which we live. Now imagine that some catastrophic disease eliminated all humans within 3 months but left our infrastructure largely in tact and did not destroy or alter the environment in any substantial manner.

What organism of group of organisms do you believe would be most likely to experience adaptive radiation and fill all of the niches previously occupied by humans? Provide a biologically defensible explanation for you answer. ​​​​​​​

***Start you answer by describing the conditions and processes that lead to adaptive radiation and the characteristics of organism that would be well suited to respond in such a manner.

If you make any assumptions the progression of various events (e.g. if you propose that all dams will fail) explicitly state those.

Answer 1