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Without variation natural selection could not select among members of a population that were all the same. How would these organisms become reproductively successful if they did not vary in the traits that allowed some to survive and reproduce, while others don't while changing the allele frequency of the population, which is the definition of evolution?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agovariation offers a variety of different characteristic features which allow certain species to become resistant/immune/protected to certain environmental factors (predators, diseases) and thus lead better survival chances ('survival of the fittest'), increasing the rate of reproduction and preservation of the species.
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Why is natural selection random?
No. Natural selection is the non-random survival of randomly varying replicators. The random variation part could be thought of as mutation and recombination that the non-randompart, natural selection, works with.
What process did Darwin's book suggest that organisms evolve through?
These three ideas seem to run together, so it's important that you are able to distinguish among them. The theory that organisms change over time is evolution. The mechanism by which organisms evolve is natural selection. Survival of the fittest explains how natural selection works.Answer = Natural SelectionThe process of natural selection, of course.
Why is it important for humans to learn natural selection?
Because one cannot understand evolution without it. It is the primary driving mechanism of evolution; the mechanism that gives evolution its direction. If one is to learn about biology at all, one must have at least a basic understanding of the mechanism that produced all of today's biological variety.
What do stabilizing selection and directional selection have in common?
They both decrease genetic variation .
What is the process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more successfully?
Natural Selection is a process which individuals are better adapted to their enviorment are more likely to survive and reproduce. Say there are turtles barely hatching and there are hungry seagul waiting to be fed, the fastest ones will make it to the water safely while the slow ones are being eaten. so eventually all the turtles in the sea will become faster to get away from predators. hopefully that answered your question.
What comes first mutation or natural selection?
Natural selection can only work on genetic variation that already exists. So mutation comes first, then natural selection.
Why does evolution evolution by natural selection can not occur if the variation in a characteristic does not contribute to differences in fitness?
Differential selection is just that, differential. Some variation is marginally superior to another variation us fitness difference, so the key is to have variation. Then natural selection will " see " this slight variation and select the better adapted trait against the background of the immediate environment.
What is one factor that affects natural selection?
Mutation is the important " starter " of the adaptive change engendered by natural selection. Variation is key to selection and without variation in organisms there would be nothing to select from for the survival and reproductive success of the organism against the immediate environment.
Why is it hard for natural selection to stop the declin of the cheetah population?
No genetic variation in the cheetah population gene pool, so natural selection has nothing to select from and the inbreeding depression keeps deleterious traits breeding true among cheetahs and natural selection can not eliminate them from the gene pool.
Explain the role of variation in evolution?
Variation plays a role in the process of natural selection because it keeps things mixed up. This is necessary so that one thing doesn't overtake another, ruling it out. If things are equal, one can't overrule another.
Mutations are important for evolution because they .?
Mutations are very important for evolution today because they usually lead to the genetic changes in a given gene pool. They also allow the species to change with the environment.
Does Natural selection occur in opposition to evolution?
Some have thought so because natural selection was seen to reduce variation by culling unsuccessful phenotypes so that alleles did not change over time in populations. This is no longer thought as much as the rates of mutation are better understood and known to outpace natural selection and that adaptive change can accommodate more than one successful phenotype so that many allels can be fixed in populations gene pools.
What happens to a population without variation?
If all the members of a species were 100% identical (no variation) natural selection would have no effect. Members of such a species would die totally randomly with no influence from the selection pressure, so no natural selection could happen.
How does natural selection break h-w assumptions?
One big Hardy-Weinberg assumption is that there is no mutation taking place in the population of interest. Mutation and selection lead to evolution, which the Hardy-Weinberg assumption also does not allow in a population. So, if there is the variation brought about by mutation then there is a chance of natural selection happening and this violates Hardy-Weinberg assumptions.
Why is adaptation important to natural selections?
Natural Selection is any trait that helps you live. So adaptation is important b/c it helps you live. Take moths for an example, if they don't blend into their surroundings, then they will get eaten by a predator. Adaptations help the animals live, thats why its important to natural selection. Hope this helps! ~Bubbles<3
Is eviromenntal changes drive reprodution a natural selection?
Environment IS natural selection, so a change in environment is a change in selection pressure.
Why were the Galápagos Islands so important to Darwin's formulation of natural selection?
Each island in the Galapagos possessed unique species
