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22.1 What facts form the base of our understanding of evolution?

See Web/CD Tutorial 22.1

Charles Darwin attributed changes in species over time to the possession of advantageous
traits by some individuals. He understood that individuals do not evolve, but populations
evolve when individuals with different heritable genotypes survive and reproduce at different
rates.

Adaptation refers both to characteristics of organisms and the way those characteristics
are acquired via natural selection.

The sum of all copies of all alleles at all loci found in the population constitutes its gene
pool and represents the genetic variation that results in different phenotypic traits upon
which natural selection can act. Review Figure 22.3

Artificial selection and laboratory experiments demonstrate the existence of considerable


genetic variation in most populations. Review Figure 22.5

Allele frequencies measure the amount of genetic variation in a population; genotype


frequencies show how a population's genetic variation is distributed among its members.
Review Figure 22.6

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium predicts the allele frequencies in populations in the absence


of evolution. Deviation from these frequencies indicates the work of evolutionary
mechanisms. Review Figure 22.7, Web/CD Tutorial 22.2

22.2 What are the mechanisms of evolutionary change?

Migration of individuals between populations results in gene flow.

In small populations, genetic drift—the random loss of individuals and the alleles they
possess—may produce large changes in allele frequencies from one generation to the next
and greatly reduce genetic variation. Review Figure 22.8

Population bottlenecks occur when only a few individuals survive a random event,
resulting in a drastic shift in allele frequencies within the population and the loss of
variation. Similarly, a population established by a small number of individuals colonizing a
new region may lose variation via a founder effect.

Nonrandom mating may result in genotype frequencies that deviate from Hardy–Weinberg
equilibrium.

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22.3 What evolutionary mechanisms result in adaptation?

See Web/CD Tutorial 22.3

Fitness is the reproductive contribution of a phenotype to subsequent generations relative


to the contributions of other phenotypes.

Changes in numbers of offspring are responsible for changes in the absolute size of a
population, but only changes in the relative success of different phenotypes within a
population lead to changes in allele frequencies.

Natural selection can act on traits with quantitative variation in several different ways,
resulting in stabilizing, directional, or disruptive selection. Review Figure 22.12

Sexual selection is primarily about success in reproduction, not about success in survival.
Review Figure 22.16 and 22.17

22.4 How is genetic variation maintained within populations?

Although genetic drift, stabilizing selection, and directional selection all tend to reduce
genetic variation within populations, most populations have considerable genetic variation.

Neutral mutations, sexual recombination, and frequency-dependent selection can maintain


genetic variation within populations.

Neutral alleles do not affect the fitness of an organism, are not affected by natural
selection, and may accumulate or be lost by genetic drift.

Sexual reproduction generates countless genotypic combinations that increase the


evolutionary potential of populations despite short-term disadvantages.

A polymorphism may be maintained by frequency-dependent selection when the fitness


of a genotype depends on its frequency in a population.

Genetic variation may be maintained by the existence of genetically distinct subpopulations


over geographic space. Review Figure 22.20

22.5 What are the constraints on evolution?

Developmental processes constrain evolution because all evolutionary innovations are


modifications of previously existing structures.

Most adaptations impose costs. An adaptation can evolve only if the benefits it confers

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exceed the costs it imposes, a situation that leads to trade-offs.

22.6 How have humans influenced evolution?

Humans have become major agents of evolution as they attempt to control pests and
diseases, move species around the globe, and modify organisms via biotechnology. Human
activities are changing the climate and have greatly increased the rates of extinction of
other species.

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