Topic 5.

2 Natural Selection
Variation

Within all populations there is variation between individuals. This may be due to environmental
factors, for example, some plants in a garden may grow larger than others of the same species
elsewhere in the garden due more favorable light conditions or better soil quality. These differences
are not genetically determined and so are not inherited by the offspring of these plants.

Other variation can be genetically determined. Mutation (3.1) is one source of genetic variation
within a population; in fact mutation is the only way new genetic information (alleles) can arise.
Sexual reproduction also results in genetic variation; the process of meiosis (3.3, 10.1) ensures that
the combination of alleles in any one gamete is unique. At fertilization the genetic material of two
different organisms are combined through the combination of the chromosomes found in the sperm
and the ovum.

Genetically determined variation is of evolutionary significance since it is the variation that can be
inherited by the offspring of the surviving parents. Generally it is considered that characteristics
acquired through the lifetime due to the environment cannot be passed on to the next generation.
[However, in section (7.2) we discussed the subject of Epigenetics, in this section it was stated that
there might be patterns of DNA methylation that are accumulated through the life of an individual
which may be inherited by its offspring. This suggests that it might be possible for the inheritance of
acquired characteristics in some cases.

Overproduction / Reproductive potential

Organisms generally produce more offspring than could ever survive to adulthood. Consider the
reproductive potential of a housefly:

A single female housefly produces 120 eggs every time it reproduces and it can reproduce seven
generations in one year. The following table shows the growth in the population over the year
assuming that all flies survive.

Generation Number of flies

1 120
2 7,200
3 432,000
4 25,920,000
5 1,555,200,000
6 93,312,000,000
7 5,598,720,000,000

This table illustrates the reproductive potential of the housefly. Populations of houseflies never
reach such levels, as there are always elements of the environment that act to reduce the
population size. Thus there is always a struggle to survive and some organisms survive to reproduce
whilst others are eliminated from the population.
A typical sea turtle might lay 110 eggs in a nest, and average between 2 to 8 nests a season, but only
about one out of every thousand hatchlings will make it to adulthood and reproductive age
overproduction!

Adaptations

In the notes given above it suggests that there is a very high mortality rate amongst young turtles
and a struggle for survival, this is true in most populations. The question arises which are the ones
that survive? The answer is those organisms that are best adapted to the environmental conditions.
Adaptations are features (structural, behavioural, physiological) that enable an organism to survive.

In the example of the Peppered Moth (Biston betularia)

There are two forms of this moth; a light coloured speckled form and a black or melanic form; these
differences are genetically determined.

In pre-industrialized Britain the speckled form was the better adapted and dominant form. This is
because by day the moths rest on trees and the trees were covered with lichen and provide a light,
broken background. Birds are natural predators of these moths; the speckled moths being more

camouflaged against the lichen background are better adapted as they are less easily seen by the
predator birds. What happened to the moth population as the trees were covered in soot during the
industrial revolution?
Complete the data-based question on pages: 248-249
Natural Selection

The process of natural selection is a mechanism in which the best- adapted organisms survive and
the poorly adapted organisms are eliminated from the population. The better-adapted organisms
that reproduce pass their favourable genetic variation onto their offspring. In this way the
population remains well suited to the prevailing environmental conditions or evolves to cope with
environmental change.

Charles Darwin first proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection. It has a number of basic
elements:

Organism's produce more offspring than can ever survive to adulthood.

Numbers of individuals in populations of organisms tend to remain constant.
The two previous statements imply that there must be a certain number of individuals that
die. There is a mortality rate due to some selection pressure in the environment.
Within any population there is variation, differences between individuals due to either
genetic or environmental factors. The pre-existing genetically determined differences are
those that are important here.
Those variants that are best suited, or adapted, to the environment are the ones that
survive. Those that are less well adapted will die.
The surviving individuals reproduce and pass on their favourable characteristics (genetically
determined) to their offspring.
The next generation is descended from the better-adapted survivors.
This results over time in an accumulation of favourable genetic factors in the population, i.e.
EVOLUTION.

It is an important point to make here that individual organisms do not evolve their either: die,
survive or survive and reproduce the latter being of greatest evolutionary significance. Thus it is the
population that changes in its overall genetic structure, what we defined as evolution.

These points can be summarised simply as:

Pre-existing genetic Variation.

Selection pressure.
Survival of best adapted / Mortality of less well adapted.
Survivors reproduce.
Pass on favourable genetic characteristics to next generation.
Gradual change in genetic structure of population.
Complete the data-based question on page 253

Example - Antibiotic resistance in bacteria

When penicillin was first discovered and used as a medication for humans it was regarded as a
wonder drug. It was a very effective means of treating a wide variety of bacterial infections.

Today penicillin is largely ineffective against most types of bacteria.

There have been many antibiotics developed since penicillin. As quickly as new antibiotics have been
discovered or developed bacteria have appeared that are resistant.

There are strains of Staphylococcus aureus or Golden Staph as it is commonly called, that are
resistant to all but one or two of our most potent antibiotics. Golden Staph is common in hospitals
and often results in post-operative infections.

How can we explain these facts?

There was pre-existing variation in the bacterial populations that arose by chance mutations.
Pre-existing means that the resistance to an antibiotic appears by chance and is there before
the antibiotic is used. The resistance does not arise as a result of the antibiotic use.
When we treat a bacterial infection with penicillin we are exerting environmental pressure
on the bacterial population.
Those bacteria that, by chance, have some resistance to penicillin are better adapted.
The susceptible bacteria die and the resistant forms survive.
The resistant forms reproduce and have offspring that are also resistant since the resistance
is the result of a gene.
Over many generations the population of bacteria evolves to become resistant to the
penicillin.
Read the example in your textbook on pages 256 and 257.
Complete the data-based question on page 257.

Example - The Galapagos finches (speciation)

In this example we will focus on the finches found on a small island in the Galapagos called Daphne
Major and specifically the species of finch known as G.fortis.

In this population of finches there was pre-existing genetic variation in the size (length and
width) of the G.fortis beaks.
The selection pressure was the supply of different sized seeds (food) which was affected by
the weather; dry conditions produced more large seeds and wet weather provided smaller,
softer seeds.
In dry conditions the birds with larger beaks were better adapted as they could feed more
easily on the larger seeds, wet conditions produced smaller seeds and thus the smaller
beaked birds were better adapted.
Therefore, in a dry spell the larger beaked individuals had better access to food and a
greater chance of surviving. Those survivors then also reproduced and passed on their genes
for larger beaks to their offspring. Thus in drier conditions there were observable increases
in the size of the beaks of the finches in this population.
Read the example in your textbook on pages 254 to 255.
Complete the data-based question on page 255.