Imagine you are at the top of a mountain looking down. As you hike from the highest elevation to the lowest elevation, you find three different species of related mice. None of them are found at the same elevation, and the vegetation changes at each elevation level.

Using species C as a reference, you find that there are more genetic differences between species A and species C than between species A and species B. Which of the statements would best reflect the mode of speciation in these mice?

A. Only genetic drift is responsible for the differences observed.
B. Speciation was allopatric or peripatric, but would depend on the number of individuals that dispersed from the original population.
C. Species C arose from species A later than species B.