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Related Concept Videos

Types of Selection01:46

Types of Selection

41.0K
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...
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

Frequency-dependent Selection

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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.
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Epistasis01:39

Epistasis

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In addition to multiple alleles at the same locus influencing traits, numerous genes or alleles at different locations may interact and influence phenotypes in a phenomenon called epistasis. For example, rabbit fur can be black or brown depending on whether the animal is homozygous dominant or heterozygous at a TYRP1 locus. However, if the rabbit is also homozygous recessive at a locus on the tyrosinase gene (TYR), it will have an unshaded coat that appears white, regardless of its TYRP1...
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Background and Environment Affect Phenotype02:27

Background and Environment Affect Phenotype

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Although the genetic makeup of an organism plays a major role in determining the phenotype, there are also several environmental factors, such as temperature, oxygen availability, presence of mutagens, that can alter an organism’s phenotype.
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
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Hybrid Zones02:29

Hybrid Zones

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Hybrid zones are narrow regions where two closely related species interact, mate, and produce hybrids. Relative to either parent species, hybrids may possess distinct phenotypic or genetic differences that impact their survival and reproductive success. The genetic variances introduced by hybridization influence species diversity and speciation processes within the hybrid zone.
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Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

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Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
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Selection and Admixture in a Polytypic Aposematic Frog.

Justin Yeager, Graham E Derryberry, Michael J Blum

    The American Naturalist
    |February 1, 2023
    PubMed
    Summary
    This summary is machine-generated.

    Phenotypic differentiation in poison frogs doesn't always require strong selection. Widespread admixture suggests other factors maintain distinct warning signals in Oophaga pumilio populations.

    Keywords:
    Oophaga pumilioPanamacline theorycolor pattern variationphenotypic divergencepoison frog

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    Area of Science:

    • Evolutionary Biology
    • Ecology
    • Genetics

    Background:

    • Phenotypic differentiation in polytypic species is often linked to selection on traits involved in predator avoidance and mate choice.
    • Aposematic (warning) coloration in species like the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga pumilio) is hypothesized to be under strong natural and sexual selection.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To investigate the role of selection in maintaining phenotypic divergence in Oophaga pumilio.
    • To assess admixture levels and estimate selection strength on coloration across a contact zone in Panama.

    Main Methods:

    • Examined phenotypic and genotypic clines in Oophaga pumilio populations across a region with distinct color morphs.
    • Analyzed admixture patterns and estimated selection coefficients from cline attributes.

    Main Results:

    • Detected sharp phenotypic clinal transitions, suggesting selection, but also found widespread genetic admixture.
    • Genotypic and phenotypic clines were not concordant or coincident.
    • Estimated selection coefficients were generally small, indicating weak selection in most cases.

    Conclusions:

    • Strong selection is not necessarily required to maintain phenotypic divergence in warning signals.
    • Widespread admixture challenges the assumption that strong selection is implicit in the evolution of aposematic coloration.