Chapter 2: Required reading Flashcards
What is genetic drift?
Processes that cause mutations to increase in frequency within a population.
Like natural selection and random changes from selectively neutral variability.
What combined effects cause changes in the population?
Mutations, Natural Selection and genetic drift.
What do major changes reflect?
Same type of minor changes/ events that occur over a long period of time
What are mutations?
Stable changes in the genetic material that can be passed on from parent to offspring.
Why is a mutation not immediately shown?
The appearance of a mutation has a very low frequency, one per couple of thousands or generations. Anti-biotic resistance is an example, where it occurs in an individual and is restricted to them for many generations
Why is Natural selection important?
It causes evolutionary changes in behavioral, structural and functioning of organisms.
What is selectively neutral variability?
There is no differences in the survival or fitness of different individuals.
Why does the offspring generation slightly differ from parental generation despite of having selectively neutral variability?
Because Gene samples in the offspring are random samples of selected genes from the parent population. This process is called genetic drift.
When are two species considered different?
When two sexually reproducing species cannot interbred with each other.
What does formation of a new specie require?
Evolution of barriers to interbreeding between two populations.
