2) "favourable traits"
will be passed on
more frequently
3) "favourable
traits" will in
crease in freq in
the next gen.
* Evolution :
characteristics in the
popn change slightly w
each generation
e.g. Darwin's finches & nat. sel.
Annotations:
- beak shape & size, adapted to diet, change over time
variation in beak depth (post 1)
variation is heritable (post 2)
A large propn of birds did
not survive (post 3)
On average those that
survived the drought
had deeper beaks
(post 4)
B) Modes of selection on
continuous phenotypic traits
Directional selection
Selection in favour/against
a particular trait
Fitness consistently
increases/decreases w
value of a trait
Changes average
value of trait in
popn
Stabilising selection
selection for intermediate
characteristic of a continuous trait
Average value of
trait does not change
e.g. birth weight humans
Disruptive selection
Maintains 2 extremes
lead to a popn splitting
Annotations:
bill width vs seed cracking performance
e.g. African finch beak size
3) FREQUENCY DEPENDENT SELECTION
strength of selection
depends on the
common-ness of the
allele/phenotype
maintain
polymorphism in popn
PREDATION - can be a
freq dependent selective
force
1) e.g. European land
snail (Cepaea
nemoralis)
Annotations:
* shell polymorphism
-colour (yellow/brown)
-Banding pattern (bands or not, how many bands)
- count freq of yellow shell
fragments at the anvils
compared to the freq in
surrounding popn in the
woodlands
Camouflage- in grass:
yellow + banding,
ground(dirt) : brown
2) e.g.Mimicry in the
swallowtail butterfly Papilio
memnon
Annotations:
-caterpillars (Lepidoptera) feed poison plants- protective
-retain until adult
-predator attack the adult- foul taste, sick
-Aposematic (warning) colour patterns - predator recognize and learn not to attack
a) Batesian Mimicry (1 sp (the
mimic) gains in fitness by
resembling another (the model)
model has an attribute
that discourage predators
while mimic x.
Fitness benefit for mimic depends
on: - how closely it resembles, -the
ratio of distasteful models and
tasty mimics
b) Mullerian Mimicry (2 distasteful
model sp resemble each other)
Fitness benefits: - greater # showing same
colouration and are actually distasteful,
warn the predator, the greater the models,
the greater the fitness
vertebrate predators
develop a hunting image
of prey
Rare morphs - less likely to be
spotted than frequent morphs &
have higher survival rate
4) ADAPTATION AND NATURAL SELECTION
Recognising adaptation
Not all traits are adaptation
may be a necessary consequence of
physics/chem (e.g. red colour of blood)
may have evolved through genetic
drift (e.g. geographic colour variation
some birds)
May have evolved bcz it was
correlated w another feature that was
adaptive (e.g. beak w medium ground
finch)
Testing the adaptiveness of traits
Experimental studies
Perform controlled manipulative
experiments to show higher fitness of
individuals with a particular trait. (e.g.
benefits of female polyandry in
pseudoscorpians)
Annotations:
why polyandry is an adaptive strategy?
Prediction: expect polyandrous females to have more
offspring (greater reproductive success) than
monoandrous females. -true in large popn
2 hypotheses:
1) Females gain material benefits for themselves or their
offspring
2) Females gain genetic benefits for their offspring
Multiple mated females have greater
reproductive success than singly
mated females by gaining genetic
benefits for their offspring
Observational studies
A series of observations on a
species that shows individuals
with the trait have higher
fitness than those without it.
(e.g. beak size in African
finches), (e.g. behavioural
thermoregulation in garter
snakes)
Comparative studies
Use comparisons among species to
test predictions based on the
adaptiveness of a trait (e.g. testes size
in male primates
Annotations:
why do some animal sp have larger testes than others?
- testes mass scales w body size
-larger testes- greater sperm - advantage in sperm competition
taxa w female multiple
mating hv larger testes per
unit body mass than in single
male system (e.g. primates,
bats, ungulates etc)
5) PHENOTYPIC PLASTICITY
def = individuals with identical genotypes
have different phenotypes if they live in
different environments
The norm of reaction of a genotype is
the set of phenotypes that genotype is
capable of expressing under different
environmental conditions
diff genotypes have different reactions
towards env (diff on how they're plastic)
may be adaptive/evolve
e.g. Phototactic
behaviour in water
fleas
Annotations:
Cloned lines of genetically
identical individuals
Tested whether they swam
towards or away from a light
source for 10 different
genotypes from three
different lakes
= genotype x environment reaction, which
shows that the plasticity can evolve