Selection and evolution

In this chapter, you will learn to:

• Explain how both genetic and environmental factors contribute to variation in phenotypes.

• Distinguish between continuous and discontinuous variation.

• Describe the process of natural selection, including how antibiotic resistance develops in bacteria.

• Explain the differences among stabilizing, disruptive, and directional selection.

• Describe how the founder effect and genetic drift can influence allele frequencies in populations.

• Apply the Hardy–Weinberg equations to genetic problems.

• Outline the principles of selective breeding with relevant examples.

• Summarize the theory of evolution as changes in gene pools over time.

• Discuss how DNA sequencing is used to determine evolutionary relationships between species.

• Explain the formation of new species through allopatric and sympatric speciation processes.