15-3

Shaping Evolutionary Theory

Hardy Weinberg Principle

The Hardy-Weinberg principle is like a Punnett Square for populations, instead of individuals. A Punnett square can predict the probability of offspring's genotype based on parents' genotype or the offspring's' genotype can be used to reveal the parents' genotype. Likewise, the Hardy-Weinberg principle can be used to calculate the frequency of particular alleles in a population

Hardy Weinberg Principle

The dominant allele is denoted A and the recessive a. Their frequencies are p and q; freq(A)=p and freq(a)=q The final three possible genotypic frequencies in the offspring become:

Hardy Weinberg Principle

Find: Frequencies of A and a. and the genotypic frequencies of AA, Aa and aa. Solution: f(A) = 12/30 = 0.4 = 40% f(a) = 18/30 = 0.6 = 60% Then, p + q = 0.4 + 0.6 = 1 and p2 + 2pq + q2 = AA + Aa + aa = .16 + .48 + .36 = 1

Assumptions For Genetic Equilibrium

No gene mutations Large population size Limited-to-no immigration or emigration Gene of interest has no effect on survival or reproduction Mating is random (see table 15.3 on page 432 for more info)

 Evolution involves changes in the gene pool. A population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium shows no change. What the law tells us is that populations are able to maintain a reservoir of variability so that if future conditions require it, the gene pool can change. If recessive alleles were continually tending to disappear, the population would soon become homozygous. Under Hardy-Weinberg conditions, genes that have no present selective value will nonetheless be retained.

Genetic Drift
In each generation, some individuals may, just by chance, leave behind a few more descendents (and genes, of course!) than other individuals. The genes of the next generation will be the genes of the lucky individuals, not necessarily the healthier or better individuals. That, in a nutshell, is genetic drift. It happens to ALL populationstheres no avoiding chance.

Founder Effect
Founder effects A founder effect occurs when a new colony is started by a few members of the original population. This small population size means that the colony may have: reduced genetic variation from the original population. a non-random sample of the genes in the original population.

Founder Effect
Founder effects . For example, the Afrikaner population of Dutch settlers in South Africa is descended mainly from a few colonists. Today, the Afrikaner population has an unusually high frequency of the gene that causes Huntingtons disease, because those original Dutch colonists just happened to carry that gene with unusually high frequency.

Bottleneck
An example of a bottleneck: Northern elephant seals have reduced genetic variation because of a population bottleneck . Hunting reduced their population size to as few as 20 individuals at the end of the 19th century. Their population has since rebounded to over 30,000but their genes still carry the marks of this bottleneck: they have much less genetic variation than a population of southern elephant seals that was not so intensely hunted.

Gene Flow
Within a population: It can introduce or reintroduce genes to a population, increasing the genetic variation of that population.

Across populations: By moving genes around, it can make distant populations genetically similar to one another. The less gene flow between two populations, the more likely that two populations will evolve into two species. (like the finches)

Nonrandom Mating
Proximity usually has a great deal to do with mate selection this promotes inbreeding and can lead to a change in allelic proportions. . Random mating is unlikely to occur for a variety of reasons. One is that it is simply easier to mate with a nearby individual, as opposed to one that is farther away. Also, especially in animals, individuals compete for mates and active selection of mating partners occurs. This goes directly against the concept of randomness.

Mutation
Mutations are the raw materials of evolution. Evolution absolutely depends on mutations because this is the only way that new alleles are created.

Mutation
MUTATIONS Lack of mutations in a population limits genetic change The frequency of all alleles remains the same. Once a mutation occurs, the allele frequency is changed. Mutations add to the genetic variability of populations over time and are thus the ultimate source of variation for evolution. Mutations increase the opportunity for evolution of adaptations different from characteristics of the ancestral population.

NATURAL SELECTION Three kinds of selection cause

changes in the normal distribution of phenotypes in a population. Stabilizing selection eliminates those phenotypes most different from the norm, thus reducing the frequency of phenotypic extremes. Directional selection eliminates one extreme and moves the population toward the other. Disruptive selection eliminates average phenotypes and encourages the extremes.

Natural Selection Stabilizing Selection

See the diagram on page 434 Stabilizing selection favors the norm, the common, average traits in a population. Look at the Siberian Husky, a dog bred for working in the snow. The Siberian Husky is a medium dog, males weighing 16-27kg (3560lbs). These dogs have strong pectoral and leg muscles, allowing it to move through dense snow. The Siberian Husky is well designed for working in the snow. If the Siberian Husky had heavier muscles, it would sink deeper into the snow, so they would move slower or would sink and get stuck in the snow. Yet if the Siberian Husky had lighter muscles, it would not be strong enough to pull sleds and equipment, so the dog would have little value as a working dog. So stabilizing selection has chosen a norm for the the size of the Siberian Husky.

Natural Selection Directional Selection

See the diagram on page 434
Directional selection favors those individuals who have extreme variations in traits within a population. A useful example can be found in the breeding of the greyhound dog. Early breeders were interested in dog with the greatest speed. They carefully selected from a group of hounds those who ran the fastest. From their offspring, the greyhound breeders again selected those dogs who ran the fastest. By continuing this selection for those dogs who ran faster than most of the hound dog population, they gradually produced a dog who could run up to 40mph.

Natural Selection Disruptive Selection

See the diagram on page 434
Disruptive selection, like directional selection, favours the extremes traits in a population. Disruptive selection differs in that sudden changes in the environment creates a sudden forces favouring that extreme. Imagine a snake which has a brown and grey colouration and lives on the rocks and in grasslands. Snakes which are mostly grey hide well in the rocks, snakes which are mostly brown hide well in the grass but the intermediate snakes (with brown and grey) get noticed in both environments and eaten by predators.

Sexual Selection
Sexual selection acts on an organism's ability to obtain a mate. Selection makes many organisms go to extreme lengths for sex: peacocks maintain elaborate tails, elephant seals fight over territories, fruit flies perform dances, and some species deliver gifts.

Sexual Selection

In one kind of sexual selection, members of one sex create a reproductive differential among themselves by competing for opportunities to mate. The winners out-reproduce the others, and natural selection occurs if the characteristics that determine winning are, at least in part, inherited. In the other kind of sexual selection, members of one sex create a reproductive differential in the other sex by preferring some individuals as mates.

Sexual Selection

In one kind of sexual selection, members of one sex create a reproductive differential among themselves by competing for opportunities to mate. The winners out-reproduce the others, and natural selection occurs if the characteristics that determine winning are, at least in part, inherited. In the other kind of sexual selection, members of one sex create a reproductive differential in the other sex by preferring some individuals as mates.

Sexual Selection
Another type of sexual selection involves the evolution of secondary sexual characteristics which determine the relative "attractiveness" of members of one sex to the other sex. Such items as courtship displays and male plumage in birds (e. g., the male peacock) are obvious examples

Reproductive Isolation- Prezygotic Isolation

Prezygotic Isolation Geographic isolation: physical barriers (rivers, oceans, mountains) prevent mixing of populations Ecological isolation: species occur in the same are but inhabit different habitats so they dont encounter each other two species whose ranges overlap live in different habitats. As a result, potential mates from the two species do not encounter one another. During the breeding season in eastern North America, five species of small birds known as flycatchers are found in different habitats in the same area. One species prefers open woods and farmland; one frequents beech trees; one is found in alders, one in conifer woods, and one in willowy thickets.

Temporal isolation
Temporal isolation is a prezygotic barrier in which the two species reproduce at different times of the day, season, or year. Wood and leopard frogs are an example of two similar species whose ranges overlap. Temporal isolation: species reproduce in different seasons or at different times of the day

Prezygotic Isolation
Behavioral isolation: species differ in their mating rituals (e.g. differing bird songs, mating colors, dances, pheromones) reproduction between similar species is prevented because each group possesses its own characteristic courtship behaviors. Wood and leopard frogs exhibit behavioral isolation because the males of each species have vocalizations that only attract females of their species.

Prezygotic Isolation
Mechanical isolation: body structure prevents mating Even if members of two species court and attempt copulation, mating is not successful. In plants, mechanical isolation often occurs in flowering plants pollinated by insects. The flowers of black sage and white sage are structurally different and are pollinated by different species of insects. In this example, each insect species pollinates flowers of only one of the sage species. Therefore, interbreeding does not occur.

Reproductive Isolation- Postzygotic Isolation

Postzygotic Isolation Hybrid zygotes between two species might occur, but... Embryological arrest: hybrid embryos often do not develop properly; no viable offspring is created Postzygotic behaviorshybrid inviability, hybrid sterility, and hybrid breakdown prevent gene flow in the unlikely event that fertilization occurs between two closely related species.

Reproductive Isolation- Postzygotic Isolation

Infertility: hybrid offspring might grow to viable adults but these are infertile and cannot produce further offspring ? cannot create a new population (e.g. mules, =donkey + horse) The sterility is

attributed to the differing number of chromosomes of the two species: donkeys have 62 chromosomes, whereas horses have 64.
(example in book a LIGER (cross between a lion and a tiger) Natural selection: If hybrids are less adapted (weaker, smaller, etc.), they are removed by natural selection

Reproductive IsolationPostzygotic Isolation

The Mule is a cross between a donkey stallion (called a jack) and a horse mare. Hinnies are just the opposite - a stallion horse crossed to a female donkey Both male and female mules have all the correct "parts" but they are sterile and cannot reproduce. A VERY few mare mules have had foals, but these are VERY, very rare. No male mule has ever sired a foal.

 Ligers are crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a male tiger and a female lion. Ligers are the worlds largest cats..Female Tigons and Ligers can reproduce where the males cannot so they can never create a new species by mating together.

Camas

Speciation
Allopatric speciation is speciation by geographic isolation. In this mode of speciation, something prevents two or more groups from mating with each other regularly, eventually causing that lineage to speciate. Isolation might occur because of great distance or a physical barrier, such as a desert or river.

Speciation
Unlike the previous mode, sympatric speciation does not require large-scale geographic distance to reduce gene flow between parts of a population. Organisms exploiting a new niche may automatically reduce gene flow with individuals exploiting the other niche. This may occasionally happen when, for example, herbivorous insects try out a new host plant. .

Gene flow has been reduced between flies that feed on different food varieties, even though they both live in the same geographic area.

Patterns of Evolution
Adaptive Radiation This is where species all deriving from a common ancestor have over time successfully adapted to their environment via natural selection. Previously, the finches occupied the South American mainland, but somehow managed to occupy the Galapagos islands, over 600 miles away. They occupied an ecological niche with little competition. Watch video Evolution Primer #4: How Does Evolution Really Work?

Patterns of Evolution
Co-Evolution The term coevolution is used to describe cases where two (or more) species reciprocally affect each others evolution. So for example, an evolutionary change in the morphology of a plant, might affect the morphology of an herbivore that eats the plant, which in turn might affect the evolution of the plant, which might affect the evolution of the herbivore...and so on.

Patterns of Evolution
Co-Evolution Coevolution is likely to happen when different species have close ecological interactions with one another. These ecological relationships include: Predator/prey and parasite/host Competitive species Mutualistic species

Patterns of Evolution
Convergent evolution Animals in different parts of the world may look similar, but it's not because they're close relatives. Instead, they've evolved similar adaptations because they occupy similar niches -- dining on ants, hunting in the high grass, or swimming in the dark -although their evolutionary origins are quite different.

Convergent evolution

Convergent evolution

Gradualism

Gradualism is selection and variation that happens gradually. Over a short period of time it is hard to notice. Small variations that fit an organism slightly better to its environment are selected for: a few more individuals with more of the helpful trait survive, and a few more with less of the helpful trait die. Very gradually, over a long time, the population changes. Change is slow, constant, and consistent.

Punctuated Equilibrium
In punctuated equilibrium, change comes in spurts. There is a period of very little change, and then one or a few huge changes occur, often through mutations in the genes of a few individuals. Though mutations are often harmful, the mutations that result in punctuated equilibrium are very helpful to the individuals in their environments.

Punctuated Equilibrium
Because these mutations are so different and so helpful to the survival of those that have them, the proportion of individuals in the population who have the mutation/trait and those who don't changes a lot over a very short period of time. The species changes very rapidly over a few generations, then settles down again to a period of little change. Watch final video on evolution

End of 15-2 Assessment Questions

1. Genetics supported evolution as well as genetic drift and punctuated equilibrium

End of 15-2 Assessment Questions

2. Hardy Weinburg you should have 3 of these: No gene mutations Large population size Limited-to-no immigration or emigration Gene of interest has no effect on survival or reproduction Mating is random

End of 15-2 Assessment Questions

3. An isolating mechanism such as a physical barrier (example: mountains) or in sympatric speciation a species can evolve into a new species without a physical barrier possibly to take advantage of a new food supply.

End of 15-2 Assessment Questions

4. Adaptive radiation or divergent evolution