ANTHRO 126N Lec 3

Natural selection

Environmental pressures drive natural selection

Examples of natural selection

Peppered moths would be an example, dark moths on a light tree would stand out, vice versa

Types of Natural Selection

Directional selection, stabilizing selection, and diversifying selection

Positive Directional Selection

When a beneficial trait becomes more common in a population

Balancing Selection

When multiple genetic variations are maintained in a population

Sexual selection

When traits become more common because they help an individual attract mates or reproduce

Coevolution

When two species evolve in response to each other

Gene-culture coevolution/Gene-culture coevolutionary theory/ Dual inheritance theory

When genes and culture influence each other's evolution

Niche-construction theory

When organisms change their environment affecting their own evolution

Inceptive Niche-construction

When organisms create new environmental conditions that influence evolution

Counteractive Niche-construction

When organisms change their environment to reduce or counteract environmental pressures

Cultural Selection

When cultural behaviors or ideas spread because they are more successful than others Examples of gene-culture coevolution (Lactase persistence, Malaria Resistance)

Agriculture

Growing crops and raising animals for food

Hunter-gatherer

A person who gets food ny hunting animals and gathering wild plants

Domestication

The process of adapting plants or animals for human use over generations

Artificial Selection

When humans breed organisms for desired traits

Centers of Agricultural Innovation

Regions where agriculture first developed independently

Agricultural transition

The shift from hunting and gathering to farming and raising animals

Timeline of Agriculture development

Agriculture began around 12,000 years ago in some regions, then spread and developed independently elsewhere