Evolution Flashcards
Adaptations
Biological traits or characteristics that help an individual survive and reproduce in its habitat
- the working parts of evolution, the functional systems and subsystems
Adaptations perform specific functions that make an organism better suited to its _________
Environment
- adaptations exist to help one thrive in their physical environment
What are the 4 basic mechanisms of evolution
Natural selection
Mutation
Genetic drift
Migration
Natural selection
The differential survival and reproduction of organisms as a result of the heritable differences b/w them
What are the 3 essential components of natural selection?
- There are significant individual differences
- within any population, there is variation among individuals for any given characteristic - These differences affect individuals’ chances of surviving and reproducing, causing differential reproduction
- The traits that give rise to differential reproduction have a genetic basis, meaning they are heritable
- the offspring of successful reproducers will resemble their parents with respect to these variable characteristics
_________ __________ is the process through which natural selection operates
Selective transmission
________ heritable traits are selectively transmitted across generations
Favourable
The selective transmission of heritable traits results in ____________ changes
Population
- the most suitable traits will be passed on to the next generation
The specific characteristics that are best adapted for survival and reproduction are going to be reproduced at ________ rates
Higher
Stabilizing selection
Selection against any sort of departure from the species-typical adaptive design
- this sort of selection tends to keep traits stable over generations
Readily observable natural selection is _______ and ________
Minimal and reversible
Fitness (biology meaning)
About reproductive success, not physical fitness
Darwinian fitness
Average reproductive success of a genotype relative to alternative genotypes
Evolution
Change in gene frequencies over generations, in part due to the introduction of new gene variants via mutation
Natural selection can act on mate-finding to produce ________ selection
Sexual
Evolutionary pressures change across ______ generations
Successive
Sexual selection
The component of natural selection that acts on traits that influence an organism’s ability to obtain a mate, resulting in differential reproductive success
Female choice & combat success are subtypes of _________ selection
Sexual
Inter-sexual selection
Involves an interaction between males and females
- female choice (mate choice preferences)
Example of inter-sexual selection
Peacocks
Intra-sexual selection
Involves success in combat with other males
- male competition
Example of intra-sexual selection
Elks
Mate choice preferences
- female choice picks out males with the best resistance to diseases
- best genes for being healthy
Species can be identified by different species-typical ___________
Behaviours