problem 3

Question 1

reproductive success

Answer 1

the passing of genes on to the next generation in a way they can too pass on their genes

Question 2

fitness of alleles

Answer 2

quantitative representation of natural + sexual selection within evolutionary biology, differed with respect to either a genotype or phenotype

Question 3

adaptive evolutionary changes

Answer 3

evolutionary changes that are adaptive to the given environment = increase survival + reproduction + are produced by natural selection

Question 4

components of natural selection

Answer 4

heritability
variation
competition

Question 5

purifying selection

Answer 5

selected removal of alleles that are deleterious - can result in stabilizing selection

Question 6

stabilizing selection

Answer 6

population mean stabilizes on a particular non-extreme tarot value

type of natural selection

Question 7

directional selection

Answer 7

extreme phenotype is favored, causing allele frequency to shift in one direction over time

type of natural selection

Question 8

disruptive/ diversifying selection

Answer 8

both extreme values are favored over intermediate traits - population gets divided into 2 distinct groups

Question 9

mutation-selection balance

Answer 9

Equilibrium in the number of deleterious alleles in a population that occurs when the rate at which deleterious alleles are created by mutation equals the rate at which deleterious alleles are eliminated by selection

Question 10

heterozygote advantage (Aa)

Answer 10

Case in which the heterozygous genotype has a higher relative fitness than either the homozygous dominant or homozygous recessive genotype, often due to overdominance (single locus)

Question 11

negative frequency-dependent selection

Answer 11

fitness of a phenotype decreases as it becomes more common - trait is only advantageous as long as it is the minority (left handedness)

Question 12

force of mutation

Answer 12

for polygenic characteristics, the effective strength of mutation is proportional to the number of genes involved. Genetic variation will persist if the force of mutation is strengthened or that of selection weakened

Question 13

inconsistent selection

Answer 13

if environment changes fast over a host period of time so the selection that begun must be reversed again

Question 14

sexuallity antagonistic selection

Answer 14

the optimal phenotype for a male is different from the optimum for a female

Question 15

adaptationist stance

Answer 15

if some feature/ behavior is commonly found in type of organism = probably an efficient design solution to some problem that the organism has faced
(if not, all alleles building that feature would have been out-competed by alternatives that build a different feature)

Question 16

phenotypic gambit

Answer 16

the strategy of forming adaptationist hypothesis directly about the phenotype without needing to know what the genetic or developmental mechanisms that produce the phenotype are (validity of this can’t be taken for granted)

Question 17

ultimate explanation

Answer 17

explanation of how that particular design increased ancestral fitness, ultimate explanation of a characteristic that increased compared to others

Question 18

proximate explanation

Answer 18

account of the genetical or developmental mechanisms that led to the formation of that characteristic in individual organisms (e.g. different genes, proteins etc.)

Question 19

phenotypic plasticity

Answer 19

ability of one genotype to produce more than one phenotype when exposed to different environments

Question 20

genetic correlation

Answer 20

estimate of the additive genetic effect that is shared between our pair of traits. e.g. self-reported mood + physiological reactivity could both be heritable, but their genetic correlation can tell you if they are likely to share the same genes

Question 21

shape of the adaptive landscape

Answer 21

used to visualize the relationship between genotypes + reproductive success

Question 22

optimality modelling

Answer 22

tool used to evaluate the costs + benefits of different organismal features, traits, + characteristics, including behaviour, in the natural world. This evaluation allows researchers to make predictions about an organism’s optimal behaviour or other aspects of its phenotype

Question 23

sexual dismorphism

Answer 23

condition where the 2 sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond the differences in their sexual organs

Question 24

sexual selection

Answer 24

natural selection on the ability to gain mates

Question 25

intrasexual selection

Answer 25

selection on the ability to compete with rivals from the same sex

Question 26

intersexual selection

Answer 26

selection on the ability to attract members of the opposite sex

Question 27

Bateman’s principle

Answer 27

the principle that males gain more reproductive success from each additional mating partner than females do

Question 28

intrasexual competition

Answer 28

the competition between 2 individuals of the same sex

Question 29

sexy son hypothesis

Answer 29

states that a female’s ideal mate choice among potential mates is one whose genes will produce male offspring with the best chance of reproductive success

Question 30

good genes hypothesis

Answer 30

explanation which suggests that the traits females choose when selecting a mate are honest indicators of the male’s ability to pass on genes that will increase the survival or reproductive success of her offspring

Question 31

extra-pair mating

Answer 31

mating behavior in socially monogamous species

Question 32

biological adaptions

Answer 32

attribute that helps a creature to survive + reproduce, become better suited or fit to an environment as an historical end product of the process of evolution

Question 33

sex-ration

Answer 33

ratio of males to females in a population. In most sexually reproducing species, the ratio tends to be 50:50. (tendency = explained by Fisher’s principle)

Question 34

hitch-hiking traits/ genetic hitchhiking

Answer 34

an allele changes frequency not because it itself is under natural selection, but because it is near another gene that is undergoing a selective sweep + that is on the same DNA chain

Question 35

trade-off traits

Answer 35

arises when 2 traits have opposite effects on fitness but are genetically correlated with each other (ears & color at foxes)

Question 36

malthus

Answer 36

english cleric + scholar, influential in the field of political economy + demography, proposed the principle that human populations grow exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate

Question 37

local resource competition

Answer 37

relatives compete with one another since the local resources are limited

Question 38

local resource enhancement

Answer 38

occurs when relatives help one another instead of competing with one another in LRC

Question 39

sex-role reversal

Answer 39

when males do all the post-fertilization care the cost asymmetry between the sexes is reversed (i.e. the males are choosier; females will be larger/ more ornamented etc.)
(seahorses)

Question 40

nomological networks

Answer 40

representation of the concepts (constructs) of interest in a study, their observable manifestations + the interrelationships among + between these

Question 41

absolute fitness

Answer 41

how many genes contribute to the gene pool of the next generation

Question 42

relative fitness

Answer 42

the contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation, relative to the other contributions of other individuals

Question 43

genotype

Answer 43

always consists of 2 alleles (e.g AA)