Chapter 3: Natural Selection and Adaptation

any consistent difference in fitness among different classes

natural selection

the success of an individual in leaving descendants to the next generation

fitness

alleles that do not alter fitness

neutral alleles

selection can occur among genes, cell types, individual organisms, populations, or species

levels of selection

selfish genetic elements, which are transmitted at a higher rate than the rest of an individual’s genome and may be detrimental

transposable elements

forcefully show the nature of natural selection, no different from differential reproductive success

selfish genetic elements

an allele for altruistic behavior can increase in frequency in a population if the beneficiaries of the behavior are usually related to the individual who performs it

kin selection

differential production or survival of groups that differ in genetic composition

group selection

the replacement if less fit by more fit individuals, generation by generation

individual selection

selection among groups of organisms, when the groups are species

species selection

The evolutionary process by which, over the course of generations, organisms are altered and improved, evolved by natural selection

adaptation

a feature that fortuitously serves a new function

preadaptation

a powerful means of inferring the adaptive significance of a feature that takes advantage of natural evolutionary experiments provided by convergent evolution

comparative method