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What type of variation is necessary for natural selection to occur?

Updated: 8/10/2023
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LincolnRittgersfb741...

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9y ago

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If there were no differences in an organisms ability to survive and reproduce what would there be to select from? Variation in populations is key to the naturally selective process and these variations that are reproductively successful are passed on to progeny which leads to the change in populations over time called evolution.

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13y ago
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15y ago

An organism can only pass on the traits it has. If all the organisms of aspiecesare the same, then they all will pass on the same genes. For example,Dragons all have purple skin. A disease strikes that kills out all the dragons with purple skin. As a result, the spieces would go extinct. However, it there had been some pink dragons, they would have survived and the spieces would live on. Get it?

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11y ago

Because if the organisms did not vary in morphology and behavior natural selection would have no variation to select from. Some traits can be marginally beneficial against the immediate environment and selection " sees " this because this organism will be better able to survive and reproduce against the other organisms in the population.

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9y ago

Natural selection occurs in a species when the type (any type) of variation presents an advantage that directly improves survivability. Changes may take place over many generations or abruptly.
For example: During the first outbreak of West Nile Virus in the USA the virus was carried by birds as they migrated and the virus spread through the susceptible bird populations killing a considerable percentage of many species. The remaining birds survived because they had some type or types of variation that allowed them to mount an adequate immune response to the virus. This would be an abrupt change in a population that resulted in a number of bird species that should be able to pass their resistance to West Nile on to the bulk of their offspring.

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13y ago

So that there are traits to be choosen by nature.

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Q: What type of variation is necessary for natural selection to occur?
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Continue Learning about Zoology

What two testable assumptions were the basis for Darwin's hypothesis?

Darwin made bold assumptions about heritable variation, the age of Earth, and relationships among organisms. First, in order for beak size and shape to evolve, there must be enough heritable variation in those traits to provide raw material for natural selection. Second, differences in beak size and shape must produce differences in fitness that cause natural selection to occur.


Generally evolution by natural selection occurs quite slowly over?

Evolution through natural selection occurs slowly over millions of years. It has been hypothesized that evolution is the result of positive mutations that occur in a community of organisms that help them survive better. Evolution is essentially descent with modification.


Where does variation occur?

Variation or mutation occurs within the DNA. It is a natural result of the replication process, or the copying of one DNA strand to make new DNA during reproduction. If the new mutation ends up making some kind of variation that does not kill the organism, then the variation will be passed on to new generations. This is how new traits are formed. When the variation is actually more useful than a trait that the organism's parents had, that new variation will be passed along as a survival trait.


Microevolution can occur when some individuals in a population survive and reproduce more often in a new environment?

Yes, microevolution can occur when some individuals in a population survive and reproduce more in a new environment. Natural selection can, over time, change the characteristics of entire populations.


How do variation occur in asexually reproducing organisms?

mutation of the DNA is the only way asexually reproducing organisms can obtain variations in their population

Related questions

Genetic variation is a necessary condition of which process?

Genetic variation is one of the conditions required for Natural Selection to occur.


Which of these is necessary for natural selection to occur genetic engeneering genetic variation asexual reproduction or enviormental stability?

Genetic variation


Can natural selection occur without variation in a population?

no there is no genetic variation for natural selection to act upon


What characteristic within populations cause natural selection to occur?

Genetic variation. If there were no variation in the genes/phenotype then natural selection would have nothing to select from.


Why would natural selection not occur in this poplutation?

What population? Perhaps you mean if there were no variation for natural selection to select from.


What requires natural selection to occur in a population?

genetic variation


Why must a population have a genetic variation in order for natural selection to occur?

Without variation there is nothing to select from.


In order for evolution by natural selection to occur what has to happen?

There must be genetic variation, the variation must be heritable, and there must be differential reproduction (due to competition).


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 characteristic witin populations causes natural selection to occur?

The characteristic within the population that causes natural selection to occur is that individuals within a given population are not all identical because they vary. The other characteristic that causes natural selection to occur is that some variants are better than the others.


What are the 3 ingredients for natural selection to occur?

Genetic variation that can be acted on by environmental pressure. Reproductive population that results in more organisms than can be supported by the ecosystem resulting in competition for limited resources, the ability of the organism to transmit genetic information to the next generation.


Are new alleles made by natural selection?

No - natural selection does not create new alleles. Variation in alleles needs to exist in the population in order for natural selection to occur. Natural selection will involve the change in allele frequencies over time, but it does not create new alleles. New alleles are the result of mutations.