Evolutionary Principles and Animal Health

What is natural selection?

Process of passing on beneficial traits from one generation to the next through variation, heredity, and differential reproduction.

What does natural selection maximise?

Reproductive success

Variation definition

Individuals within a species differ in their characteristics

Heredity definition

Parents pass on their distinctive characteristics to offspring

Differential reproduction definition

Because of their inherited characteristics, some individuals leave more offspring than others

What limits the adaptation of traits?

Variability of the population at that time.

To what extent are domestic animals products of design by natural selection in ancestral environments?

Animals aren't perfect by design as adaptations usually involve cost.

Why is the concept of natural selection important for animal health and welfare in artificial environments?

Natural selection determines how well an animal is suited to a particular environment.

What happens if the environment changes for an animal?

It may become unsuited to its environment resulting in disease.

What is the trade-off with trait adaptations?

Traits are often acquired at some sort of cost (e.g. increased susceptibility to disease).