AP Biology Unit 7: Natural Selection Review

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What is genetic drift?

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Genetic drift is a mechanism of evolution that refers to random changes in the allele frequencies of a population, which can lead to a decrease in genetic variation.

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How does genetic drift usually affect a population?

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Usually it decreases the genetic variation of the population.

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What is the founder effect?

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The founder effect occurs when a small group of individuals establishes a new population, leading to reduced genetic diversity compared to the original population.

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What is the bottleneck effect?

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The bottleneck effect occurs when a population's size is significantly reduced for at least one generation, leading to a loss of genetic diversity.

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What are prezygotic barriers to reproduction?

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Prezygotic barriers are mechanisms that prevent mating or fertilization between species, such as temporal isolation or habitat isolation.

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What are postzygotic barriers to reproduction?

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Postzygotic barriers are mechanisms that occur after fertilization, preventing the development of viable or fertile offspring.

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What is natural selection?

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Natural selection is the process by which individuals with favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to the adaptation of populations over time.

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What is adaptive radiation?

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Adaptive radiation is the rapid evolution of diversely adapted species from a common ancestor, often in response to new environmental opportunities.

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What do homologous structures indicate?

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Homologous structures indicate that organisms share a common ancestor, as they have similar anatomical features despite different functions.

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What is convergent evolution?

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Convergent evolution is the process where unrelated species develop similar traits due to similar environmental pressures, not because of a common ancestor.