Variation and Evolution

• Variation is the differences that exist between individuals. Even clones show some variation.
• Variation can occur within and between species.
• Continuous - The individuals in a population vary within a range, there are no distinct categories. An example of this would be height.
• Discontinuous - There are two or more distinct categories, and each individual only falls into one category. An example of this would be blood group.
• Variation can be genetic or environmental.
• The genes an organism has make up its genotype. The differences in genotype make up the phenotype, the characteristics displayed by an individual.
• Inherited characteristics that show continuous variation are usually influenced by many genes - these characteristics are polygenic.
• Inherited characteristics that show discontinuous variation are usually influenced by only one gene. Characteristics controlled by one gene are monogenic.
• Differences in the environment can also cause variation.
• Genetic factors determine genotype and the characteristics an individual's born with, but environmental factors can influence how some characteristics develop.
• Most phenotypic variation is caused by the combination of genotype and environmental factors.
• Phenotypic variation influenced by both usually shows continuous variation.

• Evolution is caused by a change in allele frequency.
• The complete range of alleles present in a population is called the gene pool.
• New alleles are usually generated by a mutation in genes.
• How often an allele occurs in a population is called the allele frequency.
• The frequency of alleles changes over time - this is evolution.

• Individuals within a population vary because they have different alleles.
• Selection pressures such as disease, predation, and competition create a struggle for survival.
• Because individuals vary, some are better adapted to the selection pressures than others.
• Individuals that have an allele that increases their chance of survival are more liekly to survive, reproduce, and pass on the beneficial allele, than individuals with different alleles.
• This means that a greater proportion of the next generation inherit the beneficial allele.
• They are also more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genes.
• So the frequency of the beneficial allele increases from generation to generation.
• This proces is called natural selection.

• Whether the environment is stable or changing affects which characteristics are selected for by natural selection.
• When the environment isn't changing much, individuals with characteristics towards the middle of the range are more likely to survive and reproduce.
• This is called stabilising selection and it reduces the range of possible phenotypes.
• When there's a change in the environment, individuals with a characteristic of an extreme type are more likely to survive and reproduce.
• This is called directional selection.

• Evolution can also occur due to genetic drift - instead of environmental factors affecting which individuals survive, breed, and pass on their alleles, chance dictates which alleles are passed on.
• Individuals within their population show variation in their genotypes.
• By chance, the allele for one genotype is passed on to the offspring more often than the others.
• The number of individuals with the allele increases.
• if by chance the same allele is passed on more often again and again, it can lead to evolution as the allele becomes more common in the population.
• Natural selection and genetic drift can work alongside each other to drive evolution, but one process can drive evolution more than the other depending on population size.
• Evolution by genetic drift usually has a greater effect in smaller populations where chance has a greater influence. in larger populations, any chance factors tend to even out across the whole population.
• Evolution by genetic drift also has a greater effect if there's a natural bottleneck - when a large population becomes smaller because of a natural disaster.

• The Hardy-Weinberg principle predicts that frequencies of alleles in populations wont change from one generation to the next.
• This prediction is only true under certain conditions - it has to be a large population without immigration, emmigration, mutation or natural selection. There also needs to be random mating - all possible genotypes can breed with all others.
• The Hardy Weinberg equations are based on this principle. They can be used to estimate the frequency of particular alleles and genotypes within a population.
• If the allele frequencies do not change between generations in a large population, then immigration, emmigration, mutation or natural selection must have occured.
  • p + q = 1
  • p = The frequency of the dominant allele
  • q = The frequency of the recessive allele
  • p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1
  • p^2 = The frequency of the homozygous dominant genotype
  • q^2 = The frequency of the homozygous recessive genotype
  • 2pq = The frequency of the heterozygous genotype.

Similarities

• Both change the allele frequencies in the next generation - the alleles that code for the beneficial/desireable characteristic wil become more common in the next generation.
• Both may make use of random mutations when they occur - if random mutation produces an allele that gives a desireable/beneficial phenotype, it will be selected for the next generation.

Differences

• In natural selection, the organisms that reproduce are selected by the environment, but in artificial selection this is carried out in humans.
• Artificial selection aims for a predetermined result, but in natural selection the result is unpredictable.
• Natural selection makes the species better adapted to the environment, but artificial selection makes the organism more useful for humans.

• Speciation is the development of a new species.
• A species is defined as a group of similar organisms that can reproduce to form fertile offspring.
• It occurs when populations of the same species become reproductively isolated - changes in allele frequencies cause changes in phenotype that mean they can no longer breed together to form fertile offspring.

• Geographical isolation and natural selection lead to speciation.
• Geographical isolation occurs when a physical barrier divides a population of a species - floods, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes can all cause barriers that isolate some individuals from the main population.
• Conditions on either side of the barrier will be slightly different.
• Because the environment is different on each side, different characteristics wil be more common due to natural selection and different selection pressures.
  • Because different characteristics will be advantageous on each side, the allele frequencies will change in a population.
  • Mutations will take place independantly in each population, changing the allele frequencies.
  • The changes in allele frequencies will lead to changes in phenotypic frequencies - different phenotypes will become more common on each side.
• Eventually, individuals from different populations will have changed so much that they won't be able to breed with one another to produce fertile offspring - they'll have become reproductively isolated.
• The two groups will become separate species.

• Reproductive isolation occurs because the changes in the alleles and the phenotypes of the two populations prevents that from successfully breeding together.
• The changes include:
  • Seasonal changes - Individuals from the same population develop different flowering or mating seasons, or become sexually active at different times of the year.
  • Mechanical changes - Changes in genitalia prevent successful mating.
  • Behavioural changes - A group of individuals develop courtship rituals that arent attractive to the main population.
• A population doesn't have to be geographically isolated to become reproductively isolated.
• Random mutations can occur within a population, resulting in changes, preventing members of that population breeding with other members of the species.

• The traditional definition of a species is a group of similar organisms that can reproduce to give fertile offspring. This is the Biological Species Concept.
• Scientists have issues with this definition - problems deciding which species an organism belongs to or if it's a new, distinct species.
• Reproductive behaviour can't always be studied;
  • Animals may be extinct, so their mating behaviour can't be studied.
  •  They might reproduce asexually - they never reproduce together so they might be the same species.
  • There might be practical or ethical issues involved.
• Because of these issues, scientists sometimes use the phylogenetic species concept to classify organisms.
• Phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary history of groups of organisms.
• All organisms have evolved from shared common ancestors. The more closely related two species are, the more recent their common ancestor.
• Scientists can use phylogenetics to decide which species an organism belongs to or if it's a new species - if it's closely related to members of another species then it's probably the same species.
• However, there's no cut off telling how closely related two organisms have to be.