Population Genetics & Natural Selection

Question 1

When did Charles Darwin sketch his first draft of Theory of Natural Selection?

Answer 1

1842

Question 2

The 4 statements of Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

Answer 2

1. Organisms beget like organisms
2. There are chance variations between individuals in a species, some of which are heritable
3. More offspring are produced each generation than can be supported by the environment
4. Some individuals, because of their physical or behavioral traits, have higher chance of surviving and reproducing than other individuals in the same population

Question 3

An evolutionary process that changes anatomy, physiology, or behavior, resulting in an improved ability of the members of a population to live in a particular environment

Answer 3

Adaptation

Question 4

Rare traits, no matter how favorable, would be blended out of a population, preventing change as a consequence

Answer 4

Blending Inheritance

Question 5

Who worked on the garden pea, Pisum sativum and found that genes come in alternative forms (alleles), some of which are dominant while others are recessive?

Answer 5

Gregor Mendel

Question 6

Consists of an organism’s observable characteristics which result from interactions between the genetic makeup of the individual and its environment

Answer 6

Phenotype

Question 7

What plant did Jens Clausen et al. study?

Answer 7

Sticky Cinquefoil
Potentilla glandulosa

Question 8

Variations among individuals in form and function as a result of environmental influences

Answer 8

Phenotypic Plasticity

Question 9

Locally adapted and genetically distinctive populations within a species

Answer 9

Ecotypes

Question 10

The 3 statements on the process of natural selection

Answer 10

1. Can act against different segments of the population under different circumstances and can produce quite different results
2. Can lead to or impede change in populations
3. Can increase or decrease diversity within a population

Question 11

Under […], extreme phenotypes have lower rates of reproduction and survival

Answer 11

Stabilizing Selection

Question 12

Under […], an exceptional phenotype has higher reproduction and survival

Answer 12

Directional Selection

Question 13

Under […], average phenotypes have lower reproduction and survival compared to the extremes

Answer 13

Disruptive Selection

Question 14

The proportion of total phenotypic variation in a trait such as body size or pigmentation that is attributable to genetic variance

Answer 14

Heritability

Question 15

What organism was used to study stabilizing selection?

Answer 15

Ural Owls
Strix uralensis

Question 16

What organism was used to study directional selection?

Answer 16

Soapberry Bugs

Question 17

What organism was used to study disruptive selection?

Answer 17

Medium Ground Finch
Geospiza fortis

Question 18

The change in frequency of an existing gene variant in the population due to random chance

Answer 18

Genetic Drift

Question 19

May cause gene variants to disappear completely and thereby reduce genetic variation

Answer 19

Genetic Drift

Question 20

2 events of genetic drift

Answer 20

Bottleneck Event
Founding Event

Question 21

A principle stating that the genetic variation in a population will remain constant from one generation to the next in the absence of disturbing factors

Answer 21

Hardy-Weinberg Equilbrium

Question 22

What organism was used to study genetic drift?

Answer 22

Chihuahua Spruce

Question 23

Who compared the genetic diversity of island and mainland populations of both animals and plants?

Answer 23

Richard Frankham (1997)

Question 24

What organism was used to study genetic diversity and extinction?

Answer 24

Glanville Fritillary
Melitaea cinxia

Question 25

What are the 2 host plants of Glanville Fritillary butterflies?

Answer 25

Plantago lanceolata
Veronica spicata

Question 26

Populations with the […] had the highest probabilities of extinction

Answer 26

highest levels of inbreeding (lowest heterozygosity)