Natural Selection and Adaptation Lecture Notes

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on natural selection and adaptation, aiming to reinforce understanding of evolution and its mechanisms.

Fitness

The genetic contribution of individuals to the next generation, relative to others, due to differences in viability and fertility.

Selective advantage

The degree to which some individuals of a given genotype are better adapted to their environment compared to others.

Adaptation

A trait that enhances an organism's ability to survive or reproduce in a specific environment.

Natural Selection

The process by which environmental factors influence which individuals in a population survive and reproduce.

Artificial Selection

The process of selection conducted by humans to enhance desired traits in species.

Stabilizing selection

Selection that favors average traits, reducing variation in a trait within a population.

Directional selection

Selection that favors one extreme of a trait distribution, leading to a shift in the population average.

Disruptive selection

Selection that favors both extremes of a trait distribution, potentially leading to speciation.

Polygenic traits

Traits that are influenced by multiple genes, often resulting in continuous variation.

Genomic diversity

The variation in the genetic makeup of individuals within a population, which can be analyzed to study adaptation.

Industrial melanism

The phenomenon where darker-colored organisms prevail in polluted environments due to better camouflage against predators.

Gene flow

The transfer of genetic variation from one population to another, which can influence adaptation.

Evolutionary innovation

New traits that provide a significant advantage in survival or reproduction.

Convergent adaptation

The process where unrelated species evolve similar traits due to similar environmental pressures.

Selective sweep

A process by which a new mutation increases in frequency rapidly, causing nearby alleles to also increase in frequency.