Evolutionary Mechanisms

Question 1

An event that occurs when a fraction of the members of a population leave the main population to form a secondary population.

Answer 1

Founder Effect

Question 2

The transfer of alleles between populations, usually through migration of an individual or its gametes.

Answer 2

Gene Flow

Question 3

Random fluctuations in allele frequency, due to chance or random sampling.

Answer 3

Genetic Drift

Question 4

Occurs when individuals with heritable traits have higher fitness than individuals without the trait. Individuals with the trait then pass their alleles onto offspring. This is a non random process. Over generational time, selection can create populations that have adapted to succeed in specific environments.

Answer 4

Natural Selection

Question 5

An event in which a populations size is severely reduced, by a natural disaster like a volcano or disease. Allele frequencies in the surviving population may differ from those in the original population.

Answer 5

Population Bottleneck

Question 6

A specific instance of natural selection that occurs when in which individuals with a heritable trait are more successful in getting mates and producing offspring than those without the trait.

Answer 6

Sexual Selection

Question 7

Refers to changes in an individuals genome. Provides the originals sources of genetic variation for a species or population.

Answer 7

Mutation