Microevolution

Front

What is microevolution?

Back

Microevolution refers to small-scale evolutionary changes within a population, often due to mechanisms like natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow.

Front

What is genetic drift?

Back

Genetic drift is 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 natural selection?

Back

Natural selection is the process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring, leading to evolutionary changes.

Front

What does 'survive and reproduce' mean in the context of natural selection?

Back

It means that individuals who are better suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation.

Front

What is a trait variation?

Back

Trait variation refers to the differences in physical or behavioral characteristics among individuals in a population.

Front

How does pollution affect trait variation in a population?

Back

Pollution can change the environment, leading to changes in which traits are advantageous, thus affecting the frequency of those traits in the population.

Front

What is random mating?

Back

Random mating is a condition in which individuals pair by chance, not according to their genotypes or phenotypes.

Front

What happens when random mating is violated?

Back

When random mating is violated, it can lead to non-random mating patterns, which can affect allele frequencies and lead to evolution.

Front

What are the Hardy-Weinberg assumptions?

Back

The Hardy-Weinberg assumptions include: large population size, no mutations, no migration, random mating, and no natural selection.

Front

What does genetic equilibrium mean?

Back

Genetic equilibrium refers to a state in which a population's allele frequencies remain constant over generations, indicating no evolution is occurring.