Evolution by natural selection

Question 1

variation (gene pool) of inherited characteristics

Answer 1

• variations exist in populations
• these variations are the results of environmental factors, genetic breeding factors (genes) and mutations
• some organisms are better adapted to the environment than others

Question 2

production of more offspring

Answer 2

all organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support

Question 3

extinction of unsuccessful adaption: ‘survival of the fittest’

Answer 3

there is competition among organisms: a struggle for existence. those organisms best suited to the environment will survive. this is called survival of the fittest

Question 4

natural selection and its influence on the genetic and molecular change within a population

Answer 4

natural selection can result in a new generation having different allele ratios than the previous generation

Question 5

mutation

Answer 5

a mutation is a chemical change in an organism’s dna.such mutations can result in changes within the population’s gene pool.

Question 6

continuous vs discontinuous variation

Answer 6

certain characteristics are more broad-ranged, with many intermediate values in between. this is called continuous variation. discontinuous variation has fixed values or categories