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Limits to Natural Selection

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...

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...

Convergent Evolution

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.The structures that arise from convergent evolution are called analogous structures. They are similar in function even if they are dissimilar in structure. Further, structures can be analogous while also...

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.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...

Position-effect Variegation

Position-effect Variegation

In 1928, a German botanist Emil Heitz observed the moss nuclei with a DNA binding dye. He observed that while some chromatin regions decondense and spread out in the interphase nucleus, others do not. He termed them euchromatin and heterochromatin, respectively. He proposed that the heterochromatin regions reflect a functionally inactive state of the genome. It was later confirmed that heterochromatin is transcriptionally repressed, and euchromatin is transcriptionally active chromatin.

Speciation Rates

Speciation Rates

Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Methods for Staging Pupal Periods and Measurement of Wing Pigmentation of Drosophila guttifera

Methods for Staging Pupal Periods and Measurement of Wing Pigmentation of Drosophila guttifera

Published on: January 24, 2018

Apparent stabilizing selection explains micro- and macroevolution of Drosophila wings.

Anneli Brändén¹, Stephen P De Lisle²

¹Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.

Nature Ecology & Evolution

|July 10, 2026

Summary

Drosophila wing shape evolution is constrained by strong stabilizing selection, not just genetic drift. This pervasive selection, linked to male fitness and gene pleiotropy, explains the slow pace of macroevolutionary change in wing shape.

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Published on: December 30, 2017

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Developmental genetics
Quantitative genetics

Background:

Macroevolutionary change in traits like Drosophila wing shape is often slow despite significant genetic variation.
Understanding the evolutionary forces shaping phenotypic traits is crucial for explaining patterns of diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of natural selection in constraining Drosophila wing shape evolution.
To quantify stabilizing selection on wing shape and its relationship to genetic variation.

Main Methods:

Large-scale fitness assays in Drosophila melanogaster.
Analysis of genetic variance in wing shape.
Parameterization of a macroevolutionary Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model.

Main Results:

Pervasive stabilizing selection was detected across dimensions of Drosophila wing shape.
Selection strength was proportional to standing genetic variation.
Male fitness variance and pleiotropy likely contribute to apparent stabilizing selection.

Conclusions:

Stabilizing selection, driven by male fitness and pleiotropy, plays a significant role in constraining Drosophila wing shape evolution.
This stabilizing selection can explain the slow rate of macroevolutionary change observed in this trait over deep time.