D4.1: Types of Selection

Front

What is directional selection?

Back

A type of natural selection that favors one extreme phenotype over the other phenotypes, leading to a shift in the population's trait distribution.

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What is stabilizing selection?

Back

A type of natural selection that favors intermediate phenotypes and reduces variation, maintaining the status quo for a particular trait.

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What is disruptive selection?

Back

A type of natural selection that favors extreme phenotypes at both ends of the spectrum, potentially leading to speciation.

Front

How does gene flow affect genetic diversity?

Back

Gene flow increases genetic diversity by introducing new alleles into a population.

Front

What is the effect of natural selection on a population?

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Natural selection leads to the adaptation of a population to its environment by favoring individuals with advantageous traits.

Front

What is an example of directional selection in nature?

Back

The evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, where resistant strains survive and reproduce.

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What is an example of stabilizing selection?

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Human birth weight, where infants of average weight have higher survival rates compared to very low or very high birth weights.

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What is an example of disruptive selection?

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African seedcracker birds, where individuals with either very large or very small beaks have a feeding advantage over those with intermediate-sized beaks.

Front

What role does mutation play in evolution?

Back

Mutations introduce new genetic variations, which can be acted upon by natural selection.

Front

What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?

Back

A principle that describes the genetic equilibrium in a population, stating that allele frequencies will remain constant in the absence of evolutionary influences.