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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
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.
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
Although genetic drift, stabilizing selection, and directional selection all tend to reduce
genetic variation within populations, most populations have considerable genetic variation.
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.
Most adaptations impose costs. An adaptation can evolve only if the benefits it confers
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.