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Types of Selection

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...

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.

Frequency-dependent Selection

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.

Mate Choice

Mate Choice

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.

What is Natural Selection?

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.

Speciation Rates

Speciation Rates

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Manipulation of Color Patterns in Jumping Spiders for Use in Behavioral Experiments

Manipulation of Color Patterns in Jumping Spiders for Use in Behavioral Experiments

Published on: May 21, 2019

Global selection on insect antipredator coloration.

Iliana Medina¹, Alice Exnerová², Klára Daňková²

¹School of Biosciences, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|September 25, 2025

Summary

Natural selection favors camouflage or aposematism (warning coloration) based on ecological context. Camouflage thrives in low light and rare prey, while aposematism excels in low predation environments.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary Biology
Ecology
Animal Behavior

Background:

Natural selection drives antipredator strategies like camouflage and aposematism.
Understanding ecological factors influencing these strategies is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how predator community, prey community, and visual environment affect predation risk for cryptic and aposematic prey.
To determine the ecological conditions favoring camouflage versus aposematism.

Main Methods:

A globally replicated predation experiment using 15,018 artificial paper "moth" prey.
Prey exhibited either cryptic (camouflage) or warning (aposematic) coloration.
Experiments were conducted across 21 sites on six continents.

Main Results:

Aposematic strategies were favored in environments with low predation intensity.
Camouflage strategies were advantageous when other camouflaged prey were rare.
Camouflage was also favored in low light conditions.

Conclusions:

Ecological context, including predation intensity, prey community composition, and light levels, significantly shapes antipredator strategies.
This research elucidates mechanisms driving the evolution and distribution of camouflaged and aposematic animals worldwide.