18. THE CONCEPT OF SPECIES The idea that the diversity of nature is divisible into a finite number of definable species. In general, species concepts grow out of attempts to understand the very nature of biological organization above the level of the individual organism. The word species derived from the a Latin word “kind” or “appearance.” We use the concept of the species because we naturally tend to group together things that look alike.
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20. THE MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPT OF SPECIES The morphological species concept is the most intuitive of the possible concepts and is also the oldest. It stems basically from the idea that species are groups which are constant in appearance, which, when we first look around in nature, seems quite plausible. The morphological differences between each species allow us to distinguish them from each other, a lion from a tiger, an oak from a daisy etc. Carolus Linnaeus used this concept to catalogue the diversity of life in his ‘SystemaNaturae’, and gave us the binomial name with which we still attempt to classify all the organisms that live around us.
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22. The biological species concept is the most widely accepted species concept. It defines species in terms of interbreeding. For instance, Ernst Mayr defined a species as follows: "species are groups of interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups." The biological species concept explains why the members of a species resemble one another, i.e. form phenetic clusters, and differ from other species. This explanation should be compared with that given by the ecological species concept. Interbreeding between species is prevented by isolating mechanisms. Many biologists, including Richard Dawkins, define a species by the biological species concept. When two organisms breed within a species, their genes pass into their combined offspring. As this process is repeated, the genes of different organisms are constantly shuffled around the species gene pool. The shared gene pool gives the species its identity. By contrast, genes are not (by definition) transferred to other species, and different species therefore take on a different appearance.
23. VARIATION OF TRAITS IN A POPULATION The niche variation hypothesis is an adaptive explanation for variation within populations and for, the differences in variation between populations in morphological, physiological or behavioral traits. It has received only partial support from empirical tests and has been criticized on theoretical grounds. Recent quantitative genetic models have made an advance by exploring the effects of mutation, migration, mating pattern and selection on phenotypic variance. These models are reviewed and their most important features are integrated in a new model. In this model population variation is in a state of balance between the opposing forces of mutation and immigration, which tend to elevate variation, and selection and possibly genetic drift tending to decrease it.
24. Many traits are controlled by two or more genes and are called polygenic traits. One polygenic trait can have many possible genotypes and phenotypes. Height in humans is a polygenic trait.
25. Allele Frequencies The number of times that the allele occurs in a gene pool, compared with the number of times other alleles for the same gene occur In genetic terms, evolution is any change in the relative frequency of alleles in a population
26. The allele for a widow’s peak is dominant over the allele for a hairline with no peak. However, the presence of a widow’s peak may be less common in a population. In real populations, phenotypic ratios are determined by the frequency of alleles as well as by whether the alleles are dominant or recessive.
27. When allele frequencies change due to migration of a small subgroup of a population it is known as th e founder effect.
29. Evolution as Genetic Change Remember that evolution is any change over time in the relative frequency of alleles in a population. This reminds us that it is populations, not individual organisms that can evolve overtime
30. 5 conditions are required to maintain genetic equilibrium There must be random mating The population must be very large There can be no movement into or out of the population No mutations No natural selections
31. Hardy – Weinberg principle States that allele frequency in a population will remain constant unless one or more factors cause these frequencies to change.
33. Mutations Any change in a sequence of DNA Mutations can occur because of Mistakes in DNA replication Radiation or chemicals in the environment Some mutations don’t affect the phenotype but some do
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35. MIGRATION Migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individuals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is a ubiquitous phenomenon, found in all major animal groups, including birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. The trigger for the migration may be local climate, local availability of food, the season of the year or for mating reasons.[2] To be counted as a true migration, and not just a local dispersal or irruption, the movement of the animals should be an annual or seasonal occurrence, such as birds migrating south for the winter, or a major habitat change as part of their life, such as young Atlantic salmon leaving the river of their birth when they have reached a few inches in size.
37. Genetic Drift These individuals may carry alleles in different relative frequencies than did the larger population from which they came If so, the population that they found will be genetically different from the parent population This cause is not natural selection, but chance
38. Genetic Drift Natural Selection is not the only source of evolutionary change In smallpopulations, an allele can become more or less common by chance
43. Natural Selection During the… Rainy season – enough food for everyone, no competition Dry season – some foods become scarce At that time, differences in beak sizes can mean the difference between life and death Birds become feeding specialists
44. Natural selection and chance events can change the relative frequencies of alleles in a population and lead to speciation. Speciation is the formation of new species. A species is a group of organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring.
45. Natural Selection The Grants discovered that individual birds with different size beaks had different chances of survival during a drought
46. Testing Natural Selection in Nature Darwin hypothesized that finches had descended from a common ancestor and overtime, natural selection shaped the beaks of different bird populations as they adapted to eat different foods The Grants, realized that Darwin’s hypothesis relied on two testable assumptions
48. 1. Stabilizing Selection When individuals near the center of the curve have higher fitness than individuals at either end of the curve
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50. 2. Directional Selection When individuals at one end of the curve have higher fitness than individuals in the middle or at the other end,directional selectiontakes place. The range of phenotypes shifts as some individuals survive and reproduce while others do not.
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52. 3. Disruptive Selection When individuals at the upper and lower ends of the curve have higher fitness than individuals near the middle Can create 2 distinct phenotypes
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54. SEXUAL SELECTION Sexual selection, a concept introduced by Charles Darwin in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, is a significant element of his theory of natural selection. The sexual struggle is of two kinds; in the one it is between individuals of the same sex, generally the males, in order to drive away or kill their rivals, the females remaining passive; whilst in the other, the struggle is likewise between the individuals of the same sex, in order to excite or charm those of the opposite sex, generally the females, which no longer remain passive, but select the more agreeable partners.
56. Isolated Populations A group of individuals of the same species that interbreed Because members of a population interbreed, they share a common group of genes called a gene pool
57. Geographical Isolation When two populations are separated by geographic barriers such as rivers, mountains, or bodies of water
58. Speciation in Darwin's Finches GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION Some birds from species A cross to a second island. The two populations no longer share a gene pool.
59. Isolating Mechanisms Geographic isolationoccurs when two populations are separated by geographic barriers such as rivers or mountains.
60. Speciation in Darwin's Finches Reproductive Isolation If population B birds cross back to the first island, they will not mate with birds from population A. Populations A and B are separate species.
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62. RATES OF SPECIATION Data from palaeontology and biodiversity suggest that the global biota should produce an average of three new species per year. However, the fossil record shows large variation around this mean. Rates of origination have declined through the Phanerozoic. This appears to have been largely a function of sorting among higher taxa (especially classes), which exhibit characteristic rates of speciation (and extinction) that differ among them by nearly an order of magnitude. Secular decline of origination rates is hardly constant, however; many positive deviations reflect accelerated speciation during rebounds from mass extinctions. There has also been general decline in rates of speciation within major taxathrough their histories, although rates have tended to remain higher among members in tropical regions. Finally, pulses of speciation appear sometimes to be associated with climate change, although moderate oscillations of climate do not necessarily promote speciation despite forcing changes in species' geographical ranges.
64. EXTINCTION In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "re-appears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. Through evolution, new species arise through the process of speciation—where new varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche—and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition.