Natural Selection and Variation

Dessy Putriana Sari

Shara Rosa Camelia

BIOLOGI 2016
Natural Selection=Survival of the Fittest

1. Variation exists among individuals in a species.

2. Individuals of species compete for resources
(food and space).
3. Some competition leads to the death of some
individuals while others survive.
4. Individuals that have beneficial variations are
more likely to survive and reproduce.
 Variation
Variation exists within
the gene pool of every
population. This
variation is the result of
random gene mutations
and translation errors.
Nature basically “selects” certain individuals to be successful and
reproduce and over time the population changes due to this
selection.
 Directional Selection
When individuals at one end of the curve have higher
fitness than individuals in the middle or at the other
end, directional selection takes place.

Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall

• Natural selection can take one of three
paths.
– Directional selection favors phenotypes at one extreme.
 Stabilizing Selection
• Describes changes in population genetics in
which extreme phenotypes for a trait are not
favored over medium values.
• Extreme phenotypes give individuals a
disadvantage.
 Stabilizing Selection

When individuals near the center of the curve have higher

fitness than individuals at either end of the curve,
stabilizing selection takes place.

Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall

• Natural selection can take one of three
paths.
– Stabilizing selection favors the intermediate
phenotype.
 Disruptive Selection

• Describes changes in population genetics in

which extreme values for a trait are favored
over medium values.
• The variance of the trait increases and the
population is divided into 2 distinct groups.
 Disruptive Selection
When individuals at the upper and lower ends of the
curve have higher fitness than individuals near the
middle, disruptive selection takes place.

Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall

• Natural selection can take one of
three paths.
– Disruptive selection favors both extreme
phenotypes.
 Results of Natural Selection
1. Adaptation-any inherited characteristic
that increases an organisms chances of
survival.
2. Speciation- formation of a new species
3. Extinction- disappearance of a species
from all parts of its geographical range.
• Adaptation – any inherited characteristic that
increases an organism’s chance of survival.
(Remember the source of any new trait is a
mutation.)
• Adaptations make an organism better suited
to the environment. So in the struggle for
survival, organisms with adaptations suited to
the environment will be more likely to survive
and reproduce.