1) The Evolution of Populations

i)

The Smallest Unit of Evolution

(1) Microevolution
(a) The defining of evolution on its smallest scale
b) 23.1 MUTATION AND SEXUAL REPRODUCTION PRODUCE THE GENETIC VARIATION THAT MAKES
EVOLUTION POSSIBLE
i) The Origin of Species
(1) In this book, Charles Darwin provided abundant evidence that life on earth has evolved
throughout time and he proposed natural selection as the primary mechanism for
change.
(2) Just a few years later after Darwin published his book, The Origin of Species, Gregor
Mendel wrote a groundbreaking paper on inheritance in pea plants.
ii) Genetic Variation
iii) Variation Within a Population
(1) Average Heterozygosity
(a) The average percent of loci that are heterozygous
iv) Variation Between Populations
(1) Geographic Variation
(a) Differnces in the genetic composition of separate populations
(2) Cline
(a) A graded change in a character along a geographic axis.
v) Mutation
(1) Mutation
(a) A change in nucleotide sequence of an organisms DNA
vi) Point Mutations
vii) Mutations That Alter Gene Number or Sequence
viii) Mutation Rates
ix) Sexual Reproduction
c) 23.2 THE HARDY-WEINBERG EQUATION CAN BE USED TO TEST WHETHER A POPULATION IS EVOLVING
i) Gene Pools and Allele Frequencies
(1) Population
(a) A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and interbreed,
producing fertile offspring
(2) Gene Pool
(a) A populations genetic makeup
ii) The Hardy-Weinberg Principle
iii) Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
(1) Hardy-Weinberg principle
(a) Description of the gene pool of a population that is not evolving
(2) Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

(a) Principle that states that the frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a population
will remain constant from generation to generation, provided that on ly Mendelian
segregation and recombination of alleles are at work
iv) Conditions for Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
v) Applying the Hardy-Weinberg Principle
d) 23.3 NATURAL SELECTION, GENETIC DRIFT, AND GENE FLOW CAN ALTER ALLELE FREQUENCIES IN A
POPULATION
i) Natural Selection
ii) Genetic Drift
(1) Genetic Drift
(a) Chances events can also cause allele frequencies to fluctuate unpredictably from
one generation to the next, especially in small populations
iii) The Founder Effect
(1) Founder Effect
(a) When a few individuals become isolated from a larger population, this smaller group
may establish a new population whose gene pool differs from the source population
iv) The Bottle Neck Effect
(1) Bottleneck Effect
(a) Caused by a severe drop in population size
(b) So named because the population has passed through a restrictive bottleneck in
size
v) Case Study: Impact of Genetic Drift on the Greater Prairie Chicken
vi) Effects of Genetic Drift: A Summary
(1) GENETIC DRIFT IS SIGNIFICANT IN SMALL POPULATIONS.
(2) GENETIC DRIFT CAN CAUSE ALLELE FREQUENCIES TO CHANGE AT RANDOM.
(3) GENETIC DRIFT CAN LEAD TO A LOSS OF GENETIC VARIATION WITHIN POPULATIONS.
(4) GENETIC DRIFT CAN CAUSE HARMFUL ALLELES TO BECOME FIXED.
vii) Gene Flow
(1) Gene Flow
(a) The transfer of alleles into or out of a population due to the movement of fertile
individuals or their gametes
e) 23.4 NATURAL SELECTION IS THE ONLY MECHANISM THAT CONSISTENTLY CAUSES ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION
i) A Closer Look at Natural Selection
ii) Relative Fitness
(1) Relative Fitness
(a) The contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation,
relative to the contributions of other individuals
iii) Directional, Disruptive, and Stabilizing Selection
(1) Directional selection
(a) Occurs when conditions favor individuals exhibiting one extreme of a phenotypic
range, thereby shifting the frequency curve for the phenotypic character in one
direction or the other

(2) Disruptive selection

(a) Occurs when conditions favor individuals at both extremes of a phenotypic range
over individuals with intermediate phenotypes
(3) Stabilizing selection
(a) Acts against both extreme phenotypes and favors intermediate variants.
iv) The Key Role of Natural Selection in Adaptive Evolution
v) Sexual Selection
(1) Sexual selection
(a) A form of natural selection in which individuals with certain inherited characteristics
are more likely than other individuals to obtain mates
(2) Sexual dimorphism
(a) Marked differences between the two sexes in secondary sexual characteristics,
which are not directly associated with reproduction or survival
(3) Intrasexual selection
(a) Meaning selection within the same sex
(4) Intersexual selection
(a) Also called mate choice, individuals of one sex (usually the females) are choosy in
selecting their mates from the other sex
vi) The Preservation of Genetic Variation
vii) Diploidy
viii) Balancing Selection
(1) Balancing selection
(a) Occurs when natural selection maintains two or more forms in a population
ix) Heterozygous Advantage
(1) Heterozygous advantage
(a) If individuals were heterozygous at a particular locus have greater fitness than do
both kinds of homozygotes, they exhibit this
x) Frequency-Department Selection
(1) Frequency-dependent selection
(a) The fitness of a phenotype declines if it becomes too common in the population
xi) Neutral Variation
(1) Neutral variation
(a) In humans, many of the nucleotide differences in noncoding sequences appear to
confer no selective advantage or disadvantage and therefore are considered this
xii) Why Natural Selection Cannot Fashion Perfect Organisms
(1) SELECTION CAN ACT ONLY ON EXISTING VARIATIONS
(2) EVOLUTION IS LIMITED BY HISTORICAL CONSTRAINTS
(3) ADAPTATIONS ARE OFTEN COMPROMISES
(4) CHANCE, NATURAL SELECTION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT INTERACT