Adaptive traits are built (developmentally) by alleles that have been able to get passed down across the generations. Think about an allele that builds a trait that is good for the species, but reproductively harmful to the individual who has it. "Reproductive restraint" would make a good example. Individuals who produce fewer offspring than they could help the species by reducing the risk of overpopulation but obviously pay an individual fitness cost for restraining their own reproduction. Could a trait like reproductive restraint be maintained by natural selection because of its benefits to the species? Explain in a few sentences.
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Step 1: Natural selection is the process by which individuals with advantageous traits for reproduction leave more offspring, increasing the proportion of their genes in the population over time. Show more…
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Natural selection is a process where organisms that are better suited to a certain set of environmental conditions tend to survive and reproduce more often than others. This leads to evolution as the traits mutate into other traits. organisms with those traits appear less often in the population. the environment changes fast enough to prevent overpopulation. organisms with those traits appear more often in the population. organisms with different traits appear more often.
Deniz E.
Just because possessing certain heritable traits would increase the fitness of an individual does not guarantee that this trait will evolve. This is because: Select one: natural selection can only act on pre-existing variation in individuals; Only populations undergo natural selection; Unpredictable natural selection only favors traits that benefit the species, not the individual; Genetic selection pressures.
Adi S.
It seems logical that natural selection would work toward genetic uniformity; the genotypes that are most fit produce the most offspring, increasing the frequency of adaptive alleles and eliminating less adaptive alleles. Yet there remains a great deal of genetic variation within populations. Describe factors that contribute to this variation.
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