Mechanisms of Evolution

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What is directional selection?

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A pattern of natural selection where one extreme form of a trait is more advantageous than the average or the opposite extreme, leading the population to evolve towards that one extreme.

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What is adaptation?

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A trait that makes an organism more suited to its environment.

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What is mutation?

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A change in the genetic material of an organism, which can lead to new traits, such as a chemical spill causing ladybugs to have blue dots instead of black.

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Why is it important to finish all of an antibiotic?

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If all infectious bacteria are not killed, they may continue to multiply, and some may have mutations that make them resistant to the antibiotic, leading to the spread of resistant bacteria.

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What is natural selection?

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The process by which organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring, leading to the evolution of species.

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What is genetic drift?

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A mechanism of evolution that refers to random changes in the frequency of alleles in a population, which can lead to significant changes over time.

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What is stabilizing selection?

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A type of natural selection that favors the average phenotype and selects against extreme variations.

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What is disruptive selection?

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A form of natural selection that favors extreme values for a trait over intermediate values, leading to two or more contrasting phenotypes.

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How do mutations contribute to evolution?

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Mutations introduce new genetic variations into a population, which can be acted upon by natural selection, leading to evolutionary changes.

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What is the role of antibiotics in natural selection?

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Antibiotics can create selective pressure on bacteria, leading to the survival of resistant strains through natural selection.