Lec. 35 - Natural Selection

Question 1

Explain natural selection.

Answer 1

A process in nature in which organisms possessing certain genotypic characteristics that make them better adjusted to an environments tend to survive, reproduce, increase in number or frequency.

Question 2

Explain fitness as it relates to evolution.

Answer 2

Fitness is an organisms ability to survive and reproduce in a specific environment.

Question 3

Describe genetic drift.

Question 4

Describe how evolution works. (on what scale, individual, population)

Answer 4

It is the gradual change in a species over time, it takes a loooong time, and results from the change in the genetic material of an organism. It is not acted on at the individual level.

Question 5

Explain why a mule is sterile.

Answer 5

A mule is sterile because it has 63 chromosomes so there is always an odd one out, which may result in a differing of number or structure & meiosis in hybrids can fail to produce normal gametes.

Question 6

Explain how mutation is involved in evolution.

Answer 6

Mutation provides the raw material for genetic variation within populations.