(October 25, 2015 at 2:05 pm)Rhondazvous Wrote: 1. When examine two or more fossils, how do scientists determine whether they are looking at two separate species within a genus or two variations of a single species?
Things like size and bone wear are important. Say they find two scapulas which are identical except that one is large and one is small. They could be two different species, or they could be the same species, one adult and one juvenile. So what they do is look for muscle attachment points. The tendons of an older individual will have worn the bone through repetitive motion over the years. If the smaller scapula has the bone-wear of an adult, it is likely a sub-species or even its own species. If there is no bone-wear present, it is inferred to be a juvenile, especially if found with other, larger fossils sharing the same characteristics.
(October 25, 2015 at 2:05 pm)Rhondazvous Wrote: 2. Can a mutation result in offspring of a different species from the parent?
No. Speciation takes many generations.
