11.3 - Natural Selection

Question 1

Where does genetic variation exist?

Answer 1

within populations that have the presence of different alleles

Question 2

Within different alleles of the same gene what exists and what does this mean for individuals with certain alleles?

Answer 2

• differential reproductive success
• under certain environmental conditions, individuals with certain alleles will have an increased chance of survival and reproduction

Question 3

What does natural selection lead to?

Answer 3

causes the frequency of the alleles in a population to change over time

Question 4

What does random mutation lead to?

Answer 4

can produce new alleles of a gene

Question 5

What is the benefit of new alleles to the possessor? What happens over the next few generations during reproduction to the allele?

Answer 5

• an increased chance of survival and increased reproductive success and is then passed onto the next generation
• over several generations the new allele will increase in frequency in the population