In the garden shed belonging to one of this text’s authors, stabilizing selection has occurred over the past 10 years in the house mouse, Mus musculus. Which of the following scenarios is an example of stabilizing selection? (a) Small and medium-sized mice cannot reach the seed shelf in the shed and therefore are at a disadvantage for finding food, so they do not survive and reproduce as well as large mice do.(b) Small mice cannot reach the seed shelf, and large mice are easily seen by hawks circling above. Medium-sized mice therefore survive and reproduce better than both small and large mice. (c) Small mice can easily cross the yard to the vegetable garden, and large mice can easily reach the seed shelf. Medium-sized mice have trouble with the seed shelf and are seen by hawks in the yard. Small and large mice survive and reproduce much better than medium-sized mice. (d) All of these are examples of stabilizing selection. (e) None of these are examples of stabilizing selection.
Evolutionary Genetics
Evolution is known as continuous changes that occur to adjust organisms in their changing environment over many generations. Various theories have been proposed to illustrate the origin of life and organic evolution. The most accepted one is the theory of natural selection by Charles Darwin. According to his postulate, organisms undergo a struggle for existence due to overproduction. To survive in nature, they acquire variations. The inheritable variations are selected by nature, and it leads to the survival of the fittest.
Phenotype Frequency
The majority of populations have a certain degree of variation in their genetic pools. Scientists can predict the genetic variation happening over time by measuring the amount of genetic variation in a population and these predictions assist them in gaining important insights into the processes that allow organisms to adapt to the environment or to develop into new species over generations. This process is referred to as the process of evolution.
Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium
The frequencies of allele and genotype were maintained constant from one generation to another due to the absence of other evolutionary forces. It is otherwise called the Hardy Weinberg principle the field of population genetics.
In the garden shed belonging to one of this text’s authors, stabilizing selection has occurred over the past 10 years in the house mouse, Mus musculus. Which of the following scenarios is an example of stabilizing selection? (a) Small and medium-sized mice cannot reach the seed shelf in the shed and therefore are at a disadvantage for finding food, so they do not survive and reproduce as well as large mice do.(b) Small mice cannot reach the seed shelf, and large mice are easily seen by hawks circling above. Medium-sized mice therefore survive and reproduce better than both small and large mice. (c) Small mice can easily cross the yard to the vegetable garden, and large mice can easily reach the seed shelf. Medium-sized mice have trouble with the seed shelf and are seen by hawks in the yard. Small and large mice survive and reproduce much better than medium-sized mice. (d) All of these are examples of stabilizing selection. (e) None of these are examples of stabilizing selection.
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