Chapter 21.
1 Notes
Key concepts:
● Genetic variation makes evolution possible
● Genetic variation refers to genetic differences among individuals within a population
● The nucleotide differences that provide the basis of genetic variation originate when
mutation and gene duplication produce new alleles and new genes
● New genetic variants are produced rapidly in organisms with short generation times. In
sexually reproducing organisms, most of the genetic differences among individuals result
from crossing over, the independent assortment of chromosomes, and fertilization
Paraphrased key concepts:
● Differences within individuals from a population is genetic variation
● Mutation and gene duplication create nucleotide differences which produces new alleles
and new genes and is the foundation of genetic variation
● Short generation times rapidly produce new genetic variations. Most genetic differences
are a direct result of crossing over, independent assortment of chromosomes, and
fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms
Vocab:
● Genetic variation: Differences among individuals in the composition of their genes or
other DNA segments
● Microevolution: Evolutionary change below the species level; change in the allele
frequencies in a population over generations
Who, what, when, where, why, and how?
● Who’s:
○ Charles Darwin
○ Gregor Mendel
● What’s:
○ Sources of genetic variation:
■ Mutation, gene duplication, and more
○ Formation of new alleles
■ New alleles can arise by mutation, a change in the nucleotide sequence of
an organism’s DNA
● When:
○ The Origin of Species in 1859
○ Gregor Mendel’s groundbreaking paper of inheritance in pea plants in 1865
● Where:
○
● Why:
○
● How:
○
Chapter 21.2 Notes
Key concepts:
● The Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to test whether a population is evolving
● A population, a localized group of organisms belonging to one species, is united by its
gene pool, the aggregate (a whole formed by combining several elements) of all the
alleles in the population
● The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that the allele and genotype frequencies of a
population will remain constant if the population is large, mating is random, mutation is
negligible, there is no gene flow, and there is no natural selection. For such a population,
if p and q represent the frequencies of the only two possible alleles at a particular locus,
then p2 is the frequency of one kind of homozygote, q2 is the frequency of the other kind
of homozygote, and 2pq is the frequency of the heterozygous genotype
Paraphrased key concepts:
● A localized group of organisms is united by its gene pool and is a population of one
species
● If a population is large, mating at random, no mutations, no gene flow, and no natural
selection then the allele and genotype frequencies of a population will stay the same
according to the Hardy-Weinberg principle
Vocab:
● Population: A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and
interbreed, producing fertile offspring
● Gene pool: The aggregate of all copies of every type of allele at all loci in every
individual in a population. The term is also used in a more restricted sense as the
aggregate of alleles for just one or a few loci in a population
● Hardy-Weinberg principle: The principle that frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a
population remain constant from generation to generation, provided that only Mendelian
segregation and recombination of alleles are at work
Who, what, when, where, why, and how?
● Who’s:
○ Wilhelm Weinburg, German physician
○ Godfrey Harold Hardy, British mathematician
● What’s:
○ Hardy-Weinberg principle: The frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a
population will remain constant from generation to generation, provided that only
Mendelian segregation and recombination of alleles are at work
○ Five conditions for the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium:
■ No mutations
■ Random mating
■ No natural selection
■ Extremely large population size
■ No gene flow
● When:
○ Hardy-Weinberg principle was created in 1908
● Where:
○
● Why:
○ The Hardy-Weinberg equation is often used as an initial test of whether evolution
is occurring in a population
● How:
○ p2 +2 pq +q2 =1
Chapter 21.3 Notes
Key concepts:
● Natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow can alter allele frequencies in a
population
● In natural selection, individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and
reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits
● In genetic drift, chance fluctuations in allele frequencies over generations tend to reduce
genetic variation
● Gene flow, the transfer of alleles between populations, tends to reduce genetic differences
between populations over time
Paraphrased key concepts:
● Some traits that certain individuals have inherited tend to survive and reproduce at higher
rates than others
● Genetic variation tends to reduce due to genetic drift, chance fluctuations in allele
frequencies
● Genetic differences between populations reduce due to gene flow
Vocab:
● Genetic drift: A process in which chance events cause unpredictable fluctuations in
allele frequencies from one generation to the next. Effects of genetic drift are most
pronounced in small populations
● Founder effect: Genetic drift that occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a
larger population and form a new population whose gene pool composition is not
reflective of that of the original population
● Bottleneck effect: Genetic drift that occurs when the size of a population is reduced, as
by a natural disaster or human actions.
● Gene flow: The transfer of alleles from one population to another, resulting from the
movement of fertile individuals or their gametes
● Relative fitness: The contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next
generation, relative to the contributions of other individuals in the population
Who, what, when, where, why, and how?
● Who’s:
○
● What’s:
○ Genetic drift: Chance events can cause allele frequencies to fluctuate
unpredictably from one generation to the next, especially in small populations.
Example: A large animal such as a moose stepped on three red flowers in a small
population, killing them and increasing the chance of white flowers would be
passed onto the next generation
○ Gene flow: Allele frequencies can also change by gene flow, the transfer of
alleles into or out of a population due to the movement of fertile individuals or
their gametes. Example, pollen carried by an insect from one population of
flowers to another population of flowers so there is an allele transfer. Gene flow
can be because of migration.
○ Founder effect: When a few individuals become isolated from a larger
population, this smaller group may establish a new population whose gene pool
differs from the source population. This can occur if some members of a
population are blown out by a storm. The founder effect probably accounts for the
relatively high frequency of certain inherited disorders among isolated human
populations
○ Bottleneck effect: A sudden change in the environment, such as a fire or flood,
may drastically reduce the size of a population. A severe drop in population can
cause the bottleneck effect, so named because the population has passed through a
“bottleneck” that reduces its size. By chance alone, certain alleles may be
overrepresented among the survivors, others may be underrepresented, and some
may be absent altogether.
● When:
○
● Where:
○
● Why:
○ Found and Bottleneck effect are because of genetic drift.
○ Gene flow is a result of migration and other factors.
● How:
○ Migration or insects and various other methods for gene flow
○ Any sudden change can cause genetic drift
Chapter 21.4 Notes
Key concepts:
● Natural selection is the only mechanism that consistently causes adaptive evolution
● One organism has greater relative fitness than a second organism if it leaves more fertile
descendants than the second organism. The modes of natural selection differ in how
selection acts on phenotype
Paraphrased key concepts:
● If there are two different organisms, and one leaves more fertile offspring than the other
then that organism has a higher relative fitness.
Vocab:
● Relative fitness: The contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next
generation, relative to the contributions of other individuals in the population
● Directional selection: Natural selection in which individuals at one end of the
phenotypic range survive and reproduce more successfully than do other individuals
● Disruptive selection: Natural selection in which individuals on both extremes of a
phenotypic range survive or reproduce more successfully than do individuals with
intermediate phenotypes
● Stabilizing selection: Natural selection in which intermediate phenotypes survive or
reproduce more successfully than do extreme phenotypes
● Sexual selection: A form of natural selection in which individuals with certain inherited
characteristics are more likely than other individuals to obtain mates
● Sexual dimorphism:
● Neutral variation: Genetic variation that does not provide a selective advantage or
disadvantage
● Balancing selection: Natural selection that maintains two or more phenotypic forms in a
population
● Heterozygote advantage: Greater reproductive success of heterozygous individuals
compared with homozygotes’ tends to preserve variation in a gene pool
● Frequency-dependent selection: Selection in which the fitness of a phenotype depends
on how common the phenotype is in a population
Who, what, when, where, why, and how?
● Who’s:
○ Charles Darwin: the first to explore the implications of sexual selection. He
realized that some male showiness in intersexual selection may not be adaptive
and may pose some risk.
● What’s:
○ Three types of natural selection:
■ Directional selection: Occurs when conditions favor individuals at one
extreme of a phenotypic range, thereby shifting a population’s frequency
curve for the phenotypic character in one direction or the other. Direction
selection is common when a population’s environment changes or when
members of a population migrate to a different habitat.
■ Disruptive selection: Occurs when conditions favor individuals at both
extremes of a phenotypic range over individuals with intermediate
phenotypes. One example is a population of black-bellied seedcracker
finches in Cameroon whose members display two distinctly different beak
sizes. Small-billed birds feed mainly on soft seeds, whereas large-bolled
birds specialize in cracking hard seeds. It appears that birds with
intermediate-sized bills are relatively inefficient at cracking both types of
seeds and thus have lower relative fitness
■ Stabilizing selection: Acts against both extreme phenotypes and favors
intermediate variants. This mode of selection reduces variation and tends
to maintain the status quo for a particular phenotypic character. For
example, the birth weights of most human babies lie in the range of 3-4kg;
babies who are either much smaller or much larger suffer higher rates of
mortality
○ Intrasexual selection: Selection within the same sex, individuals of one sex
compete directly for mates of the opposite sex
○ Intersexual selection: Also called mate choice, individuals of one sex (usually
the females) are choosy in selecting their mates from the other sex. In many cases,
the female’s choice depends on the showiness of the male’s appearance or
behavior.
○ Diploidy: One of the mechanisms that preserve genetic variation. Diploid
organisms have a considerable amount of genetic variation hidden from selection
in the form of recessive alleles. Heterozygotes maintain a huge pool of alleles that
might not be favored under present conditions, but which could bring new
benefits if the environment changes.
○ Heterozygote advantage: If individuals who are heterozygous at a particular
locus have greater fitness than do both kinds of homozygotes, they exhibit
heterozygote advantage. Heterozygote advantage is defined in terms of genotype,
not phenotype.
○ Frequency-dependent selection: The fitness of a phenotype depends on how
common it is in the population. Selection can favor whichever phenotype is least
common and the balancing selection will oscillate until balancing selection keeps
the frequency of each to 50%
○ Why natural selection cannot fashion perfect organisms:
■ Selection can act only on existing variations
■ Evolution is limited by historical constraints.
■ Adaptations are often compromises
■ Chance, natural selection, and the environment interact
● When:
○
● Where:
○
● Why:
○ That’s how natural selection works
● How:
○ Generally through chance and randomness but this can also be affected by
environmnent
