Mechanisms of

Evolutionary
Change
Learning Objectives:

► Explain the mechanisms that produce

changes in a population from one
generation to another.
► Show patterns of evolution from common
ancestors to produce the organismal
diversity or organisms observed today.
► State the reasons behind changes in a
population from one generation to
another.
Important Terms:

• Biological Diversity – the number and the

kinds of organisms living on Earth at a
particular time.
- how organisms arose and how they
are all related are some of the
interesting questions relating to life’s
diversity.
• Evolution – a change over time, a process
of how present-day organisms have
descended from ancient ones.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Natural Selection)

► A key factor of an organism to thrive and

reproduce depends on how well suited the
organism is to the environment.
► Fitness – ability of an individual to survive
and reproduce in a specific environment.
The concept of fitness is the central
process of evolution by natural selection.
 Mechanisms of Evolutionary
Change
(Natural Selection)
► Individuals with characteristics that are
not suited to the environment either die
or live with few offspring, whereas
individuals with characteristics that are
very much suited to the environment
survive and reproduce successfully.
Raphus cucullatus

► Raphus cucullatus or the dodo bird. Found

on the small island of Mauritius in the
Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.
Raphus cucullatus

► They were nonflying, overweight, pigeon

like birds that were allegedly unfit to the
environment because they could not fly.
This made them easy prey.
Raphus cucullatus

► Their obesity, slowness and lack of

intelligence are the common reasons
cited by scientists for their extinction.
► Dodo bird was present since the 1590s and
was declared extinct in 1861.
Types of Natural Selection

► Directional Selection – happens when

a change in the environment causes a
change in the observable spectrum of
phenotypes. In this process, organisms
with a phenotype that is well suited to
their current environment are more
likely to survive. One example is the
peppered moths present in England.
Peppered Moth
Types of Natural Selection

► Stabilizing Selection – occurs when

intermediate phenotypes are more
likely to survive in the environment.
Deer that live in the woods, those
that blend well with the forest are
less likely to be spotted by
predators.
 Types of Natural Selection

► Disruptive or Diversifying selection –

occurs when extreme phenotypes are more
likely to adapt to the environment.
► Example, can be seen in many populations
of animals with multiple male mating
strategies, such as lobsters. Large alpha
males can obtain a mate by force,
whereas small males can sneak in to
copulate with females in an alpha male’s
territory. Both large and small lobsters
will be naturally selected, but
medium-sized males, which cannot
overtake large males and are too big to
sneak unlike small males, will not be
favored.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Artificial Selection)

► Nature provides the variation among

different organisms so that humans can
select the variations that are useful to
them.
► This can be done through a technique
called selective breeding. This type of
mechanism is done by farmers and
breeders.
► In this process, individuals with desirable
traits or characteristics are bred to
increase the chances of having offspring
with the same desirable traits.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Artificial Selection)

► Breeders are able to produce a wide

range of plants and animals with the help
of artificial selection.
► This is widely used today to shape a
variety of traits.
 Mechanisms of Evolutionary
Change
(Nonrandom Mating)
► Described as the selected probability of
mating with another individual in the
population. Non-random mating may take
two forms: inbreeding and outbreeding.
► Inbreeding – when individuals are more
likely to mate with their close relatives
than with distant relatives. Individuals
choose their mates based on their genetic
history.
► One example was practiced by royal
families several years ago, when they
preferred marrying only other royal
members to keep their bloodlines “pure”.
► The problem with this type of breeding is
that there is a higher chance of inheriting
disease conditions caused by harmful
recessive genes.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Nonrandom Mating)

► Outbreeding – or assortative mating,

happens when individuals select distant
relatives than close relatives as their
partners. In this type of breeding,
individuals with similar phenotypes are
more likely to mate.
- example, blue-eyed rabbits are more
likely to mate with other blue-eyed rabbits
in a mixed population of rabbits.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Genetic Drift)

► Another mechanism of population change.

► Caused by unpredictable changes in allele
frequencies due to small population sizes.

What are the two examples of

random genetic drift?
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Genetic Drift)

► Population Bottleneck - occurs when a

sudden sharp decline in the population
results in a drastic reduction of the total
genetic diversity of the original
population.

What is the reason behind population

bottleneck?
Usually from natural disasters such as
volcanic activities and strong weather
disturbances.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Genetic Drift)

► Founder Effect - happens when there is a

loss of genetic variation because of
migration of a small subgroup in a
population.

What will happen if founder effect

will continue?
Due to the small population size and the
geographical or social isolation of the
population from other organisms of the same
species, some genetic traits prevalent in the
subgroup may lead to the presence of certain
genetic diseases in the next generation.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Mutation)

► Change in the structure of a gene caused

by alterations in the DNA sequence of an
organism.
► There are different types of mutations
according to the mechanism done to the
DNA molecule, substitution, insertion,
deletion, frameshift.
► Mutation may be either neutral or
beneficial.
 Neutral Mutation

► Affects the organism’s phenotype but has

no impact on its survival or reproduction.
- example, change in the eye color of
an organism.
 Beneficial Mutation
► Affects the phenotype of organisms,
resulting in an increase in their chances of
survival or reproduction.
- example, mutation experiment done to
Escherichia coli allowed it to metabolize
citrate. This entirely new ability gave
E.coli increased complexity.
What are the causes of mutation?

► Mutation may occur because of mistakes

in the replication of genetic materials.
► A result of exposure to radiation or
chemicals in the environment.
Mechanisms of Evolutionary Change
(Gene Flow)

► Also known as migration. This happens

when there is transfer of genes from the
gene pool of one population to another.
► Two types of migration: emigration and
immigration.