Coevolution: The evolution of the adaptations of two species as a result of the selective pressures

each exerts on the other.

Fitness: The capacity of an organism to survive and transmit its genotype to its offspring.
Natural Selection: The way in which individuals with particular characteristics have a greater
chance of survival than individuals without those characteristics, and are therefore more likely to
breed and pass on the genes for these characteristics to their offspring.
Selection Pressure: An environmental factor that confers greater chances of survival and
reproduction to some individuals than on others in the population.
Stabilising Selection: A type of natural selection where the status quo is maintained because the
organisms are already well adapted to their environment.
Directional Selection: A type of selection in which most of the common varieties of an organism are
selected against , resulting in a change in the features of the population.
Disruptive Selection: Natural selection that favours the survival of individuals at two different points
within the range of variation resulting in two different phenotypes (polymorphism).
Evolution: Changes in the population that may lead to speciation or extinction.
Artificial Selection: The selection by humans of organisms with desired traits.
Selective breeding: Choosing only organisms with the desirable trait, from which to breed.

Introduction

- Genetic variation stems from independent assortment, crossing over, random mating, random
fertilisation, and mutation. Genetic variation produces phenotypic variation.
- Mutations that occur in somatic cells (body cells) cannot be passed of to the offsprings of that
organism and often have no effect at all on the organism. But, mutations which occur during
gametogenesis, they may be passed on.
A mutated gamete would fuse with another gamete to form a zygote which would divide to
form another organism with the mutation in all of its cells.
- Variation in phenotype due to the environment cannot be passed down to offspring.

Continuous and Discontinuous Variation

- Qualitative data falls into clearly distinguishable categories (e.g. blood types ABO). These show
discontinuous variation. The characteristics of this type of variation are:
Different alleles at a single gene locus can have large effects on the phenotype.
Each different gene can have quite different effects on the phenotype.
- Quantitative data can be spread across a range between two extremes (e.g. height, weight).
Since quantitative differences can be small and difficult to distinguish they show continuos
variation. The characteristics of this type of variation are:
Different alleles at a single gene locus have small effects on the phenotype.
Different genes have the same (usually additive) effect on the phenotype.
Many genes can combine to affect a certain phenotypic trait (polygenes).
- In polygenetic traits, the more genes affecting the trait, the smaller differences between
groups (more continuous).
- Even if some of the genes are linked, due to meiosis during crossing over variation will be
restored.
- Environmental effects also smooth out the differences between phenotypic classes.