As land became detached, what effect would this have had on the development of species?

1 Answer
Sep 20, 2017

The species will separate as the land separates and become progressively more different.

Explanation:

An example of this is the squirrels of the Grand Canyon. As the land separated due to the growth of the Grand Canyon the populations of the squirrels on either side of the Canyon became separated.

The squirrels on the north side of the Canyon are larger than the the squirrels on the south side of the the Canyon. There are also color difference between the two populations.

As a divergent zone separated the existing tectonic plate the populations of the different species would also become separated.
African elephants are different from Asian elephants. It reasonable to assume that both African and Asian elephants were at one point part of one population.