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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
Testing a Claim about Mean: Unknown Population SD01:21

Testing a Claim about Mean: Unknown Population SD

A complete procedure of testing a hypothesis about a population mean when the population standard deviation is unknown is explained here.
Estimating a population mean requires the samples to be approximately normally distributed. The data should be collected from the randomly selected samples having no sampling bias. There is no specific requirement for sample size. But if the sample size is less than 30, and we don't know the population standard deviation, a different approach is used; instead...
Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
Limits to Natural Selection01:38

Limits to Natural Selection

Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.For one, natural selection can only act upon existing genetic variation. Hypothetically, redtusks may enhance elephant survival by deterring ivory-seeking poachers. However, if there are no gene variants—or alleles—for redtusks, natural selection cannot increase the prevalence of...
Competition02:34

Competition

When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.Intraspecific competition, which occurs between individuals of the same species, serves as a natural mechanism for regulating population size. Too much...
Genetics of Speciation02:16

Genetics of Speciation

Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.The genetics of speciation involves the different traits or isolating mechanisms preventing gene exchange, leading to reproductive isolation. Reproductive isolation can be due to reproductive barriers that have effects either before or after the formation of a zygote. Pre-zygotic mechanisms prevent fertilization from occurring, and post-zygotic mechanisms...

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Related Experiment Video

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Testing Visual Sensitivity to the Speed and Direction of Motion in Lizards
12:30

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Published on: December 14, 2006

Experimentally replicated disruptive selection on performance traits in a Caribbean lizard.

Ryan Calsbeek1, Thomas B Smith

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA. ryan.calsbeek@dartmouth.edu

Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution
|December 7, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Ecologically mediated selection drives adaptive radiation in Anolis lizards. Studies show habitat use influences performance traits like limb length, leading to diversification and repeatable selection patterns.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Ecology
  • Herpetology

Background:

  • Adaptive radiation is often driven by ecologically mediated selection.
  • Linking natural selection to morphological diversity is challenging due to difficulties in wild studies.
  • Anolis lizards exhibit repeated evolution of divergent morphologies linked to habitat use.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate the ecological basis of natural selection in Anolis lizards.
  • To link selection patterns to morphological diversification within a species.
  • To verify the consistency of selection targets and forms over time.

Main Methods:

  • Observational studies of Anolis lizard populations in natural habitats.
  • Performance-related traits (e.g., limb length) were analyzed in relation to habitat use.
  • Experimental manipulations in the wild were conducted to verify selection patterns.

Main Results:

  • Performance traits are subject to correlational and disruptive selection driven by habitat use.
  • Experimental manipulations confirmed these selection patterns.
  • Selection targets and forms are consistent through time, indicating repeatability.

Conclusions:

  • Ecological selection, driven by habitat use, is a potent mechanism for diversification in Anolis lizards.
  • Short-term repeatability of selection provides evidence for its role in evolutionary diversification.
  • These findings support the hypothesis that ecological factors drive adaptive radiation.