Biology - Variation Flashcards
What is continuous variation?
Impacts lots of genes, no discrete categories, is affected by the environment eg. height or intelligence
What is discontinuous variation?
fits into discrete categories, impacts by a few genes and is not affected by the environment eg. blood group, genetic disorders
What is variation?
The differences in characteristics between individuals
What is inherited variation?
variation caused by the genetic material you inherit from your biological parents
Why is variation important for the survival of a species?
It is important as if the environment changes, some individuals will be able to survive so the species will not become extinct
What does it mean if there is not much variation within a species?
It means that all the individuals will have similar alleles and characteristics, so it is more likely that the species will go extinct
What is a problem with selective breeding?
By breeding animals/plants for particular genetic characteristics, the species may all end up having the same alleles and characteristics, so if their environment changes, they may all go extinct
What is the process of selective breeding?
select individuals with the desired traits
breed them together
select the offspring with the desired traits
repeat over many more generations until all the offspring have the desired characteristics
What is Inbreeding?
inbreeding is the process of breeding close relatives within the family
What is variation between different organisms caused by?
genetic differences
environmental differences
a combination of the two