IV NATURAL SELECTION

In the chapter on biological evolution, natural selection was defined as the process of uneven transfer of alleles derived from particular individuals to the gene pool of the following generations through their progeny.This process can occur in a number of quite different ways, and thus it is possible to differentiate several basic types of natural selection and also their combinations.The individual types of selection can be studied from the standpoint of their impact on the course of evolution, i.e. on the speed and direction of changes that they cause in the gene pool of the population, and from the standpoint of the level at which the selection acts (alleles, individuals, populations, etc.).This chapter will describe the individual types of selection mechanisms and will discuss their role in biological evolution.

 

 

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The classical Darwinian theory of evolution can explain the evolution of adaptive traits only in asexual organisms. The frozen plasticity theory is much more general: It can also explain the origin and evolution of adaptive traits in both asexual and sexual organisms Read more
‹ III.15 Lysenkian jumps from one species to another most probably do not exist and certainly do not play any major role in evolution. up IV.1 At the very least, natural selection comprises environmental selection and sexual selection ›
Draft translation from: Evoluční biologie, 2. vydání (Evolutionary biology, 2nd edition), J. Flegr, Academia Prague 2009. The translation was not done by biologist, therefore any suggestion concerning proper scientific terminology and language usage are highly welcomed. You can send your comments to flegratcesnet [dot] cz. Thank you.