The Evolution of Populations Trivia Quiz

Answer: allele frequency

The allele frequency is the rate of an allele's appearance in a given population. An allele comprises two or more genes that give rise to a physical trait. The frequency of an allele can change within a population, depending on environmental factors or genetic drift. As an allele spreads through a population, it creates a larger gene pool of the trait it expresses.

Answer: constant

This principle debunked the idea that a dominant allele would tend to increase in frequency without being influenced by evolutionary parameters. However, this is only an idealized situation. Hardy and Weinberg acknowledged that no population is immune to evolution. All populations are susceptible to evolutionary influences like genetic drift and natural selection. What good is it then? The principle is used to determine the degree to which frequencies of alleles are changing in a given population.

This can determine whether the population is evolving or not.

Answer: True

Genetic drift is the effect that chance has on heritability. Consider a population of ten individuals. If one dies before leaving any offspring, all of its genes will be lost. That is one tenth of the population's gene pool. Now consider a population of 100, where the same thing happens. Only one hundredth of the gene pool is lost, meaning it will have less of an influence on the population's genetic structure.

Answer: physical exercise

Building strong muscles doesn't mean your offspring will inherit them. Acquired traits are rarely passed down between organisms. On the other hand, a natural disaster like an earthquake, a physical barrier like a dam, or a subgroup leaving the main group can all create new environments that alter the genetic structure of a population.

This is because natural selection modifies the new population's heritability.

Answer: heat conservation

Environmental variance can lead to phenotypic variation, like the kind seen at the poles. The ability of larger animals to conserve heat better is an example of a latitudinal cline- a geographical factor that leads to variation across an ecological gradient. Altitudinal cline is another kind of geographic variation, where flowering plants at different places along a mountain slope bloom at different times.

Answer: new species

Speciation is the gradual creation of a new species through adaptations created by the restriction of gene flow. This is happening all the time on Earth. Gene flow across populations result in gradual differences along a cline. But when the new population becomes totally separated, the gene flow becomes restricted, resulting in differences extreme enough that the separated populations can no longer mate.

Answer: directional

Directional selection makes a trait that seems unusual more adaptive in a changing environment. The case of the peppered moth adapting to industrial changes is one of many. This is why you should never make fun of "freaks of nature". In a catastrophic environment, they could be more adapted to carrying the gene pool than you are!

Answer: sexual dimorphism

Sometimes there is stronger selection pressure for males to mate, while sometimes there is more pressure for females. In the case of humans and most mammals, males face more pressure from females because stronger male traits maximize reproductive success. Insects tend to have larger and stronger females because it is advantageous for them to be able to lay more eggs.

Answer: sexual

Sexual selection is the process by which larger, stronger, and more ornate individuals are seen as more attractive. That doesn't necessarily mean it's better for the individual or the gene pool. An example of a detrimental trait seen as attractive is the peacock's tail, where the most beautiful and colorful is most likely to win the female's attention.

However, this makes the peacock and their offspring more visible to predators. It also makes them slower.

Answer: No

Natural selection is always limited by a population's existing genetic variance. Every individual carries some beneficial alleles and some unfavorable ones. Additionally, environments on Earth are always changing. Only in a world that isn't changing would this be possible. Finally, not all evolution is adaptive.

While the fittest individuals are selected to carry the gene pool, other forces can contaminate it, such as genetic drift, inbreeding, and gene flow.