Microevolution
Chapter 16
Selective Breeding &
Evolution
• Evolution is genetic change in a line of
descent through successive generations
• Selective breeding practices yield
evidence that heritable changes do
occur
Domestication of Dogs
• Began about 50,000 years ago
• 14,000 years ago - artificial
selection
– Dogs with desired forms of traits
were bred
• Modern breeds are the result
Results of Artificial Selection
• Extremes in size
– Great Dane and Chihuahua
• Extremes in form
– Short-legged dachshunds
– English bulldog
• Short snout and compressed face
• Extreme traits lead to health problems
Evolutionary Theories
• Widely used to interpret the past and
present, and even to predict the
future
• Reveal connections between the
geological record, fossil record, and
organismal diversity
Early Scientific Theories
• Hippocrates - All aspects of nature can
be traced to their underlying causes
• Aristotle - Each organism is distinct from
all the rest and nature is a continuum or
organization
Confounding Evidence
• Biogeography
• Comparative anatomy
• Geologic discoveries
Biogeography
• Size of the known world expanded
enormously in the 15th century
• Discovery of new organisms in previously
unknown places could not be explained by
accepted beliefs
– How did species get from center of creation
to all these places?
Comparative Morphology
• Study of similarities and differences in
body plans of major groups
• Puzzling patterns:
– Animals as different as whales and bats
have similar bones in forelimbs
– Some parts seem to have no function
Comparative Anatomy
Python
Human
Geological Discoveries
• Similar rock layers throughout world
• Certain layers contain fossils
• Deeper layers contain simpler fossils than
shallow layers
• Some fossils seem to be related to known
species
19th Century - New Theories
• Scientists attempt to reconcile evidence
of change with traditional belief in a
single creation event
• Two examples
– Georges Cuvier - multiple catastrophes
– Jean Lamark - inheritance of acquired
characteristics
The Theory of Uniformity
• Lyell’s Principles of Geology
• Subtle, repetitive processes of change,
had shaped Earth
• Challenged the view that Earth was only
6,000 years old
Darwin’s Voyage
• At age 22, Charles Darwin began a fiveyear, round-the-world voyage aboard
the Beagle
• In his role as ship’s naturalist he
collected and examined the species that
inhabited the regions the ship visited
Voyage of the Beagle
EQUATOR
Galapagos
Islands
Galapagos
Islands
Darwin
Wolf
Volcanic islands
far off coast of
Ecuador
Pinta
Genovesa
Marchena
All inhabitants are
descended from
species that
arrived on islands
from elsewhere
Santiago
Bartolomé
Fernandia
Seymour
Baltra
Rabida
Pinzon
Santa Cruz
Santa Fe
Tortuga
San Cristobal
Isabela
Española
Floreana
Glyptodonts & Armadillos
• In Argentina, Darwin observed fossils of
extinct glyptodonts
• Animals resembled living armadillos
Malthus - Struggle to Survive
• Thomas Malthus, a clergyman and
economist, wrote essay that Darwin
read on his return to England
• Argued that as population size
increases, resources dwindle, the
struggle to live intensifies and conflict
increases
Galapagos Finches
• Darwin observed finches with a variety
of lifestyles and body forms
• On his return he learned that there were
13 species
• He attempted to correlate variations in
their traits with environmental
challenges
Darwin’s Theory
A population can
change over time when
individuals differ in one
or more heritable traits
that are responsible for
differences in the ability
to survive and
reproduce
Alfred Wallace
• Naturalist who arrived at the same
conclusions Darwin did
• Wrote to Darwin describing his views
• Prompted Darwin to finally present
his ideas in a formal paper
On the Origin of Species
• Darwin’s book
• Published in 1859
• Laid out in great detail his evidence
in support of the theory of evolution
by natural selection
Missing Links
• If one species can evolve into another,
there should be transitional forms
• When Darwin published his work, no
such forms were known
• First fossil Archaeopteryx found in 1860
Populations Evolve
• Biological evolution does not change
individuals
• It changes a population
• Traits in a population vary among
individuals
• Evolution is change in frequency of
traits
The Gene Pool
• All of the genes in the
population
• Genetic resource that is
shared (in theory) by all
members of population
Variation in Phenotype
• Each kind of gene in gene pool may
have two or more alleles
• Individuals inherit different allele
combinations
• This leads to variation in phenotype
• Offspring inherit genes, NOT
phenotypes
What Determines Alleles in
New Individual?
• Mutation
• Crossing over at meiosis I
• Independent assortment
• Fertilization
• Change in chromosome
number or structure
Genetic Equilibrium
• Allele frequencies at a
locus are not changing
• Population is not evolving
Five Conditions
• No mutation
• Random mating
• Gene doesn’t affect survival or
reproduction
• Large population
• No immigration/emigration
Microevolutionary Processes
• Drive a population away from
genetic equilibrium
• Small-scale changes in allele
frequencies brought about by:
– Natural selection
– Gene flow
– Genetic drift
Gene Mutations
•
•
•
•
•
Infrequent but inevitable
Each gene has own mutation rate
Lethal mutations
Neutral mutations
Advantageous mutations
Hardy-Weinberg Rule
At genetic equilibrium, proportions of
genotypes at a locus with two alleles
are given by the equation:
p2 AA + 2pq Aa + q2 aa = 1
Frequency of allele A = p
Frequency of allele a = q
Punnett Square
p A
q a
p A
AA(p2)
Aa(pq)
q a
Aa(pq)
aa(q2)
Frequencies in Gametes
F1 genotypes:
Gametes:
0.49 AA
A
0.42 Aa
A
A
0.09 aa
a
a
a
0.49 + 0.21
0.21 + 0.09
0.7A
0.3a
STARTING POPULATION
490 AA butterflies
Dark-blue wings
No Change
Through
Generations
420 Aa butterflies
Medium-blue wings
90 aa butterflies
White wings
THE NEXT GENERATION
490 AA butterflies
420 Aa butterflies
90 aa butterflies
NO CHANGE
THE NEXT GENERATION
490 AA butterflies
420 Aa butterflies
90 aa butterflies
NO CHANGE
Natural Selection
• A difference in the survival and
reproductive success of different
phenotypes
• Acts directly on phenotypes and indirectly
on genotypes
Reproductive Capacity
& Competition
• All populations have the capacity to
increase in numbers
• No population can increase
indefinitely
• Eventually, the individuals of a
population will end up competing for
resources
Variation in Populations
• All individuals have the same genes that
specify the same assortment of traits
• Most genes occur in different forms
(alleles) that produce different
phenotypes
• Some phenotypes compete better than
others
Change Over Time
• Over time, the alleles that produce the
most successful phenotypes will
increase in the population
• Less successful alleles will become less
common
• Change leads to increased fitness
– Increased adaptation to environment
Results of Natural Selection
Three possible outcomes:
• A shift in the range of values for a
given trait in some direction
• Stabilization of an existing range of
values
• Disruption of an existing range of
values
Number of individuals
in the population
Number of individuals
in the population
• Allele frequencies
shift in one
direction
Range of values for the trait at time 1
Range of values for the trait at time 2
Number of individuals
in the population
Directional
Selection
Range of values for the trait at time 3
Peppered Moths
• Prior to industrial revolution, most
common phenotype was light
colored
• After industrial revolution, dark
phenotype became more common
Pesticide Resistance
• Pesticides kill susceptible insects
• Resistant insects survive and
reproduce
• If resistance has heritable basis, it
becomes more common with each
generation
Antibiotic Resistance
• First came into use in the 1940s
• Overuse has led to increase in
resistant forms
• Most susceptible cells died out and
were replaced by resistant forms
• Intermediate
forms are favored
and extremes are
eliminated
Number of individuals
in the population
Stabilizing
Selection
Range of values for the trait at time 1
Range of values for the trait at time 2
Range of values for the trait at time 3
Selection for Gall Size
• Gall-making fly has two major
predators
• Wasps prey on larvae in small galls
• Birds eat larvae in large galls
• Flies that cause intermediate-sized
galls have the highest fitness
Number of individuals Number of individuals
in the population
in the population
• Forms at both
ends of the
range of
variation are
favored
• Intermediate
forms are
selected against
Range of values for the trait at time 1
Range of values for the trait at time 2
Number of individuals
in the population
Disruptive
Selection
Range of values for the trait at time 3
African Finches
60
Number of individuals
• Selection favors
birds with very
large or very small
bills
• Birds with
intermediate-sized
bill are less
effective feeders
50
40
30
20
10
10
12.8
15.7
18.5
Widest part of lower bill
(millimeters)
Sexual Selection
• Selection favors certain secondary
sexual characteristics
• Through nonrandom mating, alleles
for preferred traits increase
• Leads to increased sexual dimorphism
Balanced Polymorphism
• Polymorphism - “having many
forms”
• Occurs when two or more alleles
are maintained at frequencies
greater than 1 percent
Sickle-Cell Trait:
Heterozygote Advantage
• Allele
causes
sickle-cell anemia
when heterozygous
• Heterozygotes are
more resistant to
malaria than
homozygotes
HbS
Malaria case
Sickle cell trait
less than 1 in 1,600
1 in 400-1,600
1 in 180-400
1 in 100-180
1 in 64-100
more than 1 in 64
Gene Flow
• Physical flow of alleles into a
population
• Tends to keep the gene pools of
populations similar
• Counters the differences that result
from mutation, natural selection, and
genetic drift
Genetic Drift
• Random change in allele frequencies
brought about by chance
• Effect is most pronounced in small
populations
• Sampling error - Fewer times an event
occurs, greater the variance in outcome
Computer Simulation
1.0
AA in five populations
0.5
allele A lost
from four
populations
0
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Generation
(25 stoneflies at the start of each)
Computer Simulation
1.0
0.5
allele A
neither
lost nor
fixed
0
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Generation
(500 stoneflies at the start of each)
50
Bottleneck
• A severe reduction in population size
• Causes pronounced drift
• Example
– Elephant seal population hunted down to
just 20 individuals
– Population rebounded to 30,000
– Electrophoresis revealed there is now no
allele variation at 24 genes
Founder Effect
• Effect of drift when a small number of
individuals start a new population
• By chance, allele frequencies of
founders may not be same as those in
original population
• Effect is pronounced on isolated islands
Inbreeding
• Nonrandom mating between related
individuals
• Leads to increased homozygosity
• Can lower fitness when deleterious
recessive alleles are expressed
• Amish, cheetahs