Mechanisms of

Evolution
1. Determine the different mechanisms that explain how does evolution produces
change in population
2. Discuss the mechanisms (artificial selection, natural selection, genetic drift,
mutation and recombination) that produces change in population.
3. Appreciate the importance and value of evolution in the unity and diversity of life
KEY CONCEPT
Natural selection is not the only mechanism through
which populations evolve.
What is a population?
Populations as the Units of Evolution
A population is:
A group of individuals of the same species, living in the same place, at the
same time
Shares a common gene pool.
The smallest biological unit that can evolve

(a) Two dense populations of (b) A nighttime satellite view of (c) A waddle of penguins
trees separated by a lake North America
Genetic variation in a population increases the chance that some
individuals will survive.
Genetic variation is stored in a population’s gene pool
and leads to phenotypic variation which is necessary
for natural selection.
For a population to start evolving, members of the
population should possess variations, which is the
material on which agents of evolution act.
Any heritable trait is a characteristic of organism that
is influenced by the genes.
Without any genetic variation, the basic mechanism of
evolutionary change cannot activate.
Where does Variation come from?
Sex Wet year

Beak depth
mixing of alleles
Dry year
recombination of alleles Dry year Dry year

new arrangements in every offspring 1977 1980 1982 1984

new combinations = new phenotypes 11

spreads variation

offspring (mm)
Beak depth of
10

offspring inherit traits from parent 9

Medium ground finch

8
8 9 10 11
Mean beak depth of parents (mm)

Mutation
random changes to DNA
errors in mitosis & meiosis
environmental damage
What are the different Mechanisms of
Change in Population?
•Mutation
•Genetic Drift
•Bottleneck Effect
•Gene Flow
•Founder’s Effect
•Nonrandom Mating
 Mutation
Mutation creates variation
Mutation changes DNA sequence, changes
amino acid sequence, and changes
proteins.
Very occasionally, little copying alteration
or change (mutations) occurs during the
process of DNA replication.
This may because by a number of factors,
which include but not limited to radiation,
viruses, or carcinogens (cancer causing
materials).
Gene flow
Occurs when individuals join new populations and
reproduce.
A result of migrating individuals that breed in a new
location.
Gene flow consists of the movement of alleles among
populations bald eagle migration

Alleles can be transferred through the movement of

fertile individuals or gametes (e.g. pollen)
Gene flow tends to reduce variation among populations
over time and keeps neighboring populations similar.
Can also cause genetic mixing across regions
 Gene Flow

Gene flow moves alleles from one population to

another.

Some individuals from a population of brown beetles might

have joined a population of green beetles.
That would make the genes for brown beetles more frequent
in the green beetle population.
Human evolution today
Gene flow in human populations is
increasing today by transferring
alleles between populations

Are we moving towards a blended world?

The Bottleneck Effect
The bottleneck effect is a drastic reduction in population size due to a change
in the environment or an event.
The resulting gene pool may no longer be reflective of the original
population’s gene pool
If the population remains small, it may be further affected by genetic drift
Cheetahs appear to have experienced at least two genetic bottlenecks in the
past 10,000 years.
A population bottleneck can lead to genetic drift.
Genetic Drift
Any change in the allele frequencies in a small population due to
random sampling is called genetic drift.
In every new generation, some species, just by chance, may leave behind
a few more descendants than other individual.
The genes of these next generations will be genes of the “luckier”
individuals, but not necessarily mean the healthier or “better”
individuals.
When a few “original” individual settle in a new region, the resulting
population will not have all the alleles found among the original
members of the populations. The resulting patterns of genetic variation is
what is known as the founder effect.
The Founder Effect
The founder effect occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a
larger population
Allele frequencies in the small founder population can be different from those
in the larger parent population
The founding of a small population can lead to genetic drift.
It occurs when a few individuals start a new population.
The founder effect is genetic drift that occurs after start of new population.
Case Study: The Case of the Greater
Prairie Chicken
The HIPPO Dilemma
One way to think about the major threats to biodiversity worldwide
is by creating broad categories that characterize the threats. Let’s
have these categories of threats to the greater prairie-chicken which
are based on the thinking of many conservationists around the
world. The categories are easy to remember by the acronym
HIPPO.
H = habitat loss
I = introduced species
P = pollution
P = population growth
O = over-consumption.
Case Study: Impact of Genetic Drift on the Greater
Prairie Chicken
•Loss of prairie habitat caused a severe reduction in the population
of greater prairie chickens in Illinois. The surviving birds had low
levels of genetic variation, and only 50% of their eggs hatched.
•Illinois laws are designed to keep people from killing, disturbing,
injuring, harming or harassing prairie-chickens.
•A management and recovery plan was developed and the
Conservation Reserve Program.
•Some land is being restored to the native prairie condition.
Nonrandom mating
Sexual selection is natural selection for mating
success. It occurs when certain traits increase
mating success and due to higher cost of
reproduction, females are more limited in potential
offspring each cycle males produce many sperm
continuously
Organisms may prefer to mate with others of the
same genotype or of different genotypes which can
result in sexual dimorphism, marked differences
between the sexes in secondary sexual
characteristics
There are two types of sexual selection.
Intrasexual selection is competition among
individuals often males for mates of the opposite
sex
Intersexual selection, often called mate choice,
occurs when individuals usually females are choosy
in selecting their mates; males display certain traits
to females
Male showiness due to mate choice can increase a
male’s chances of attracting a female, while
decreasing his chances of survival
How do female preferences evolve?
The “good genes” hypothesis suggests that if
a trait is related to male health, both the male
trait and female preference for that trait
should increase in frequency. Sexual
selection selects for traits that improve
mating success.
Would it be possible for a certain species’ genotype frequencies not to change from generation to
generation?
How can we tell if a population is evolving?
A non-evolving population is in genetic equilibrium, called the Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium, in which the population gene pool remains
constant over
From a genetic perspective evolution can be defined as a generation-to-
generation change in a population’s frequencies of alleles, sometimes
called microevolution.
The Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to test whether a population is
evolving. If a population does not meet the criteria of the Hardy-Weinberg
principle, it can be concluded that the population is evolving.
What happens when a population will
not undergo evolution?
If a certain population has a constant genetic stability, it is said to be at
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. This state is reached when allele and
genotype frequencies do not change from generation to generation. In
order to achieve such equilibrium, five important criteria should be met:
1.No mutations
2. Random mating
3. No natural selection
4. Extremely large population size
5. No gene flow
What happens when a population will not
undergo evolution?
If all the aforementioned criteria are met, two result will follow. First, allele
frequencies at a locus will stay constant from generation to generation. After one
generation of random mating, the genotype frequencies will stay the same. Stating the
Second result in the form of an equation produces the Hardy-Weinberg equation:
p2  2pq  q2  1
Where:
𝑝 is the frequency of the dominant allele.
𝑞 is the frequency of the recessive allele.
𝑝² is the frequency of individuals with the homozygous dominant genotype.
2𝑝𝑞 is the frequency of individuals with the heterozygous genotype.
𝑞² is the frequency of individuals with the homozygous recessive genotype.
The Hardy-Weinberg equation is used to predict genotype frequencies in a population.

Predicted genotype frequencies are compared with actual frequencies.

used for traits in simple dominant-recessive systems
– must know frequency of recessive homozygotes
– p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
 Alleles in the population
Frequencies of alleles Gametes produced
p = frequency of Each egg: Each sperm:
CR allele = 0.8

q = frequency of 80% 20% 80% 20%

CW allele = 0.2 chance chance chance chance

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes the constant frequency of alleles

in such a gene pool
Consider, for example, the same population of 200 wildflowers, 160 is
red colored and 40 is white colored. Let’s find the following first:
A. The frequency of the recessive allele (q).
B. The frequency of the dominant allele (p).
C. The frequency of heterozygous individuals (2pq).
Consider, for example, the same population of 200 wildflowers, 160 is red
colored and 40 is white colored. Let’s find the following first:
A. The frequency of the recessive allele (q).
B. The frequency of the dominant allele (p).
C. The frequency of heterozygous individuals (2pq).
p  freq CR  0.8
q  freq CW  0.2
The frequency of genotypes can be calculated
CRCR  p2  (0.8)2  0.64
CRCW  2pq  2(0.8)(0.2)  0.32
CWCW  q2  (0.2)2  0.04
The frequency of genotypes can be confirmed using a Punnett square
p2  2pq  q2  1
0.64+0.32+0.04=1
With the given number of frequency of
dominant and recessive allele, find the
following:
A. The frequency of the homozygous
recessive allele (q2).
B. The frequency of the homozygous
dominant allele (p2).
C. The frequency of heterozygous
individuals (2pq).