Evolution Chapter 16- Vocabulary

Front

What is stabilizing selection?

Back

A type of natural selection that favors intermediate variants by acting against extreme phenotypes.

Front

What is directional selection?

Back

A mode of natural selection in which a single phenotype is favored, causing the allele frequency to shift in one direction.

Front

What does the Hardy-Weinberg principle state?

Back

It states that allele frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation in the absence of other evolutionary influences.

Front

What is reproductive isolation?

Back

A condition in which two populations cannot interbreed and produce fertile offspring, leading to speciation.

Front

What is relative frequency in genetics?

Back

The number of times an allele occurs in a gene pool compared to the total number of alleles for that gene.

Front

What is genetic drift?

Back

A mechanism of evolution that refers to random changes in allele frequencies in a population, often having a more significant effect in small populations.

Front

What is the founder effect?

Back

A phenomenon that occurs when a small group of individuals becomes isolated from a larger population, leading to a reduced genetic diversity.

Front

What is speciation?

Back

The process by which new and distinct species evolve from a single ancestral species.

Front

What is a gene pool?

Back

The complete set of genetic information within a population, including all alleles for every gene.

Front

What is a single-gene trait?

Back

A trait controlled by a single gene, which can have two or more alleles.