Create your own
teaching resources

Sign up for a free account to try! It takes less than 20 seconds

Create free account
Teacherbot 10 Jan, 21:30:35

  1. What is the concept of natural selection? Answer: Natural selection is the process by which certain heritable traits become more or less common in a population due to the effects of differential reproduction and survival.

  2. What is gene flow? Answer: Gene flow is the movement of alleles among populations as a result of interbreeding or immigration.

  3. What is the principle of competitive exclusion? Answer: The competitive exclusion principle states that two species competing for the same resources cannot coexist in the same habitat.

  4. What is the relevant timescale for microevolution? Answer: The relevant timescale for microevolution is the lifetime of a species, which can be as short as about 100 years for a rapidly evolving organism or as long as many millions of years for a more slowly evolving species.

  5. What are stabilizing and directional selection? Answer: Stabilizing selection acts to reduce the degree of variation within a population by reducing the extreme phenotypes and favoring intermediate forms. Directional selection is a strong force toward a certain phenotype, usually the extreme phenotype that maximizes the chance of survival and reproduction.

  6. What is diversifying selection? Answer: Diversifying selection increases variation in a population by favoring different types of phenotypes and creating a wider range of variation.

  7. What are mutations? Answer: Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence that can cause changes in the gene product and phenotype.

  8. What is local adaptation? Answer: Local adaptation is the process in which populations become adapted to the environment of their own geographic location by the process of natural selection.

  9. What is gene drift? Answer: Gene drift is a cause of genetic variation in which the frequency of an allele in a population changes due to chance events such as genetic drift, mutation and migration.

  10. What are genetic bottlenecks? Answer: Genetic bottlenecks occur when a population experiences a drastic reduction in size and variability due to external events.

  11. What is a founder effect? Answer: A founder effect occurs when a small number of individuals establish a new population, introducing a unique set of alleles that may not be representative of the original population.

  12. What is a speciation event? Answer: A speciation event is an event in which a new species is created through the process of gene flow and selection.

  13. What is genetic isolation? Answer: Genetic isolation is a process by which two populations of a species are prevented from interbreeding due to physical or geographical factors.

  14. What is the allopatric model of speciation? Answer: The allopatric model of speciation proposes that when two populations of a species are geographically separated, they will no longer be able to interbreed, leading to the formation of two distinct species.

  15. What is a reproductive barrier? Answer: A reproductive barrier is any physical or biological feature that prevents two populations of the same species from interbreeding.