evolution terms

[johnnyMD]

are these terms correct? what other terms do i need to know for mkcat

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Mutation - random changes for new alleles.
Fitness - denotes survival of species and only requires reproduction.
Genetic drift - random evolutionary changes in allele frequency, not by evolutionary forces. small population.
NS - "intentionally" selects "good" alleles over bad ones, changes allele frequency.
Hardy Weinberg- fixed allele frequency in an ideal population.

Reproductive isolation - capable of successful offspring, but doesnt. No mixing genes btw. species.
Adaptive radiation - via mutation, subpopulation of species is able to reduce competition by occupying new niche. ultimately forms new species.

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[princessd3]

Fitness is not really the survival of the organism. It's a measure of reproductive succes, or how well an organism's are passed on to the next generation. An organism can be perfectly healthy but yet fitness is low. A mule has zero fitness because it is sterile, no ablitly to pass on its genes.

 

[johnnyMD]

Originally posted by princessd3
Fitness is not really the survival of the organism. It's a measure of reproductive succes, or how well an organism's are passed on to the next generation. An organism can be perfectly healthy but yet fitness is low. A mule has zero fitness because it is sterile, no ablitly to pass on its genes.

is fitness characterized by one (1) individual's passing of alleles to future generations, or does fitness apply to only a mass population?

 

[Kazema]

I think fitness refers to all individuals that carry the allele. All mules are sterile, so their fitness is zero. For a hypothetical allele that causes sterility in homozygous recessives, the fitness of homozygous recessives is zero, while the fitness of heterzygotes is unaffected.

Probably.

EDIT: Actually I guess the fitness refers to the allele itself, so the frequency of the allele would actually decrease over time and therefore the allele has low fitness? I think I probably confused people even more by posting .

 

[princessd3]

I think when you mention fitness you're referring to an organism and not the entire species.

 

[johnnyMD]

Fitness of a geno/pheno is its reproductive contribution to future generations relative to other geno/pheno. "fitness measures the relative success among genotypes that leads to changes in allele frequency, that is, evolution."

 

[princessd3]

Right so seems to me that's refering to it on an individual level. Like you just said it's a comparison of reproductive sucess among individuals.