🌀The theory of natural selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.
🌀Natural selection is the process by which organisms with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce.
🌀The environment plays a critical role in determining which traits are advantageous.
🌀Individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to their offspring.
🌀The variation among individuals within a population is the raw material upon which natural selection acts.
🌀Over time, natural selection can lead to the evolution of new species.
🌀The survival of the fittest refers to the idea that organisms that are best adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce.
🌀Natural selection is a slow and gradual process that takes place over many generations.
🌀Natural selection can act on many different traits, including physical characteristics, behaviors, and even social structures.
🌀Sexual selection is a type of natural selection that favors traits that enhance an organism's ability to attract mates.
🌀Genetic drift is a random process that can lead to the loss of genetic diversity within a population.
🌀Gene flow is the movement of genes between different populations and can counteract the effects of genetic drift.
🌀The founder effect is a type of genetic drift that occurs when a small group of individuals establishes a new population.
🌀Adaptation is the process by which organisms become better suited to their environment through natural selection.
🌀Convergent evolution is the process by which unrelated species evolve similar traits due to similar environmental pressures.
🌀Divergent evolution is the process by which closely related species evolve different traits due to different environmental pressures.
🌀Coevolution is the process by which two or more species evolve in response to each other.
🌀The Red Queen hypothesis suggests that organisms must continually adapt and evolve to keep up with their changing environment.
🌀Natural selection is not a random process, but it is also not directed towards a specific goal or outcome.
🌀The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes a population in which the frequencies of alleles and genotypes remain constant over time.
🌀The five conditions required for the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are: no mutations, no migration, no natural selection, random mating, and a large population size.
🌀The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is a useful tool for studying genetic variation and evolution within populations.
🌀The molecular clock hypothesis suggests that the rate of evolution for a particular gene is constant over time.
🌀Genetic variation arises through mutation, recombination, and gene flow.
🌀Genetic variation is essential for natural selection to occur, as it provides the raw material for adaptation.
🌀The bottleneck effect is a type of genetic drift that occurs when a population is drastically reduced in size, leading to a loss of genetic diversity.
🌀The biological species concept defines a species as a group of organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
🌀Reproductive isolation is the key factor that drives speciation, as it prevents gene flow between different populations.
🌀Allopatric speciation occurs when a geographic barrier separates a population, leading to the formation of two new species.
🌀Sympatric speciation occurs when a new species arises within the same geographic area as the parent species.
🌀Adaptive radiation is the rapid diversification of a single ancestral species into many different species that inhabit different ecological niches.
🌀The Cambrian explosion was a period of rapid diversification of life forms that occurred approximately 540 million years ago.
🌀The theory of punctuated equilibrium suggests that evolution occurs in rapid bursts of speciation followed by long periods of stability.