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Chapter 8: Evolution and Natural Selection

A. Evolution is an ongoing process. 8.1 We can see evolution occuring right before our eyes.
population: a group of organisms of the same species living in a particular geographic region. e.g.: fruit flies. Choose top 20% to reproduce. Average starvation-resistance time hight a generation after generation. --- the result of natural selection --- EVOLUTION #1 The characteristics of individuals in a population can change over time. We can observe such change in nature and can even cause such change to occur.

B. Darwin jounyed to a new idea. 8.2 Before Darwin, most people believed that all species had been created separately and were unchangingg. 8.3 A job on around-the world survey ship allow Darwin to indulge and advance his love of nature. 8.4 Observing geographic similarities and difference among fossils and living palnts and animals, Darwin developed a theiry of evolution. 8.5 In 1858, after decades of mulling and procrastinating, Darwin published his thoughts on natural selection. C. Four mechanisms can give rise to evolution. 8.6 Evolution occurs when the allele frequencies in a population change.
e.g. orange and brown tigers (increase the proportion of )all-white tigers a change in the allele frequencies of the population. Not change the genetics or physical features of individuals But change the proportion of XX alleles in the population. Four agents of evolutionary change: Mutation Geetic drift Migration Natural selection * evolution is genetic change in a population #6 Evolution is a change in allele frequencies within a population. It can occur by four different mechanisms: mutation, genetic drift, migration and natural selection.

8.7 Mutation a direct change in the DNA of an individual is the ultimate source of all genetic variation.

e.g. brown-eye & blue-eye. tanning beds. #7 Mutation is a alteration of the base-pair sequence in an individuals DNA. Such an alteration constitutes evolution if it changes an allele that the individual carries. Mutations can be caused by high-energy source or chemicals in the environment and also can appear spontaneously. Mutation is the only way that new alleles can be reated within a population, and so generates the variation on which natural selection can act.

8.8 Genetic drift is a random change in allele frequencies in a population.


Dominant allele. Recessive allele. Heterizygous. Fixation. Special cases of GD: 1. Founder Effect: a small number of individuals leave a population. 2. Population Bottlenecks: a famine, disease, or rapid environmental change. #8 Genetic drift is a random change in allele frequencies within a population, unrelated to the alleles influence on reproductive success. Genetic drift is a significant agent of evolutionary change primarily in small populations.

8.9 Migration into or out of a population may change allele frequencies.


Also called: gene flow. Different from founder effect which is to move to a unpopulated place. #9 Migration, or gene flow, leads to a change in allele frequencies in a population as individuals move into or out of the population.

8.10 When three simple conditions are satisfied, evolution bu natural selection is occurring.
Three conditions: 1. there must be variation for the particular trait within a population. 2. that cariation must be inheritable (that is, it must be capable of being passd on from parents to their offspring) inheritance or heritability. 3. individuals with one version of the trait must produce more offspring than those with a different version of the trait (differential reproductive success) Sexual selection. #10 Natural selection is a mechanism of evolution that occurs when there is heritable variation for a trait and individuals with one version of the trait have greater reproductive success than do individuals with a different version of the trait. It can also be thought of as the elimination from a population of alleles that reduce the reproductive rate of idividuals carrying those alleles relative to the reproductive rate of individuals who do not carry them.

D. Through natural selection, populations of organisms can become adapted to their environment.

8.11 Traits causing some individuals to have more offspring that others become more prevalent in the population.
Three important elements to an organisms fitness: 1. An individuals fitness is measured relative to other genotypes or phenotypes in the population. 2. Fitness depends on the specific environment in which the organism lives. 3. Fitness depends on an organisms reproductive success compared with other organisms in the population. #11 Fitness is a measure of the raletive amout of reproduction of an individual with a particular phenotype, as compared with the reproductive output of individuals with alternative phenotypes. An individuals fitness can vary, depending on the environment in which the individual lives.

8.12 Organisms in a population can become better matched to their environment through natural selection.
#12 Adaptation the process by which organisms become better matched to their environment and the specific features that make an organism more fit occurs as a result of natural selection.

8.13 Natural selection does not lead to perfect organisms.


#13 Natural selection does not lead to organisms perfetly adapted to their evironment because 1) environments can change more quickly than natural selection can adapt organisms to them; 2) all possible alleles are not produced by mutation; 3) there is not always a single optimum adaptation for a give environment.

8.14 Artificial selection is a special case of natural selection.


#14 Animal breeders and farmers are making use of natural selection when they modify their animals and crops, because the three conditions for natural selection are satisfied. Since the differential productive success is determined by humans and not by nature, this type of natural selection is also called artificial selection.

8.15 Natural selection can change the traits in a population in several ways.
1) e.g. milk cow. Turkey breast. 2) e.g. babies with different weights 3)e.g. fish of different sizes and their territories. #15 Acting on multigene traits for which populations show a large range of phenotypes, natural selection can change populations in several ways, including 1) directional selection, in which the average value for the trait increases or decreases; 2) stabilizing selection, in which the average value of a trait remains the same while extreme versions of the trait are selected against; and 3) disruptive selection, in which individuals with extreme phenotypes have the highest fitness.

8.16 Natural selection can cause the evolution of complex traits and behaviors.
e.g. maze-running ability in rats maze-bright rats & maze-dull rats #16 Natural selection can change allele frequencies for genes involving compex physiological process and behaviors. Sometimes a trait that has been selected for oe function is later modified to serve a completely different function.

E. The evidence for the occurrence of evolution is overwhelming. 8.17 The fossil record documents the process of natural selection.
Five primary lines of evidence to evolution: 1) the fossil record physical evidence of organisms that lived in the past. 2) Biogeography patterns in the geographic distribution of living organisms. 3) Comparative anatomy and embryology growth, development, and body structures of major groups of organisms. 4) Molecular biology the examination of life at the level of indiidual molecules. 5) Laboratory and field experiments implementation of the scientific method to observe and study evolutionary mechanisms. Radiometric dating: e.g. evolutionary hitory of horses. Gourpsof species shared a common ancester. #17 Radiometric dating confirms that the earth is very old and makes it possible to determine the age of fossils. Analysis of fossil remains enables biologists to reconstruct what organisms looked long age, learn how organisms were related to each other, and understand how groups of organisms evolved over time.

8.18 Geographic patterns of spcies distributions reflect their evolutionary histories.


Biogeography e.g. hawaiian honeycreepers & australian narsupials and their placental counterparts #18 Observing geographic patterns of species distributions, particularly noting similarities and differences among species living close together but in very different habitats and among species living in similar habitats but located far from one another, helps us to understand the evolutionary histories of populatiions.

8.19 Comparative anatomy and embryology reveal common evolutionary origins.


e.g. forelimbs of mammals homologous bone structure. e.g. vestigial stucture. Convergent evolution #19 Similarities in the anatomy of different groups of organisms and in their physical appearance as they proceed through their development can reveal common evolutionary origins

8.20 Molecular biology reveals that common genetic sequences link all life forms
All living organisms share the same genetic code. e.g. amino acids. #20 All living organisms share the same genetic code. The degree of similarity in the DNA of different species can reveal how closely related they are and the amount of time that has passed since they last shared a common ancestor.

8.2 Laboratory and field experiments enable us to watch evolution in progres.


e.g. grass on golf courses.

e.g. evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria #21 Multiply replicated, comtrolled laboratory seletion experiments and long-term field studies of natural populations including observations on antibiotic-resistant strains of disease-causing bacteria enable us to watch and measure evolution as it occurs.

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