1. We simulated how natural selection, selective selection, and various other types of change in this lab. We had to obtain 'food' using certain feeding methods, which showed us natural selection and evolution working in real time.
2. The phenotype best at capturing food was the pinchers because they were better adapted to pick up the 'food' (corks). The corks were an easy size for pinchers to pick up, yet difficult for stumpies.
3. The population did evolve. We know this because we saw a change in allele frequency. The A allele frequency decreased, while the a allele frequency increased. Although the pinchers were aa, so they were reccessive, they still outlived the other types of individuals because they had the best traits for survival. The A allele frequency started out at .52, and ended as .23. The a allele frequency however started at .48, and ended at .77. Here is the graph of how the allele frequencies changed and evolved over the years.
4. Certain aspects of this lab were random, like which animals survived. Sometimes a stumpy would be right next to a large pile of food and therefore survive. Sometimes people would gang up on a pincher and the pincher would die. Stumpies were sometimes forgotten about and got a large amount of food and therefore survived. This altered the evolution because the allele frequency of these animals would increase or decrease, altering the population sizes. Non-random events were the pinchers surviving and the stumpies dying becuase of their traits.
5. The results would have been different if the food was bigger because the knucklers would not have been able to even pick up the food, but the stumpies would have an easy time eating. if it was smaller, the results would probably be similar to how our data for this lab ended up like. This relates to when a population's food source dies and changes, causing animals with better traits within that population to thrive.
6. Yes, the results would have been different if there was not incomplete dominance. This is because the reccessive allele wouldn't be there, so the pinchers would have maybe died out because they were aa.
7. Natural selection and evolution are very similar. Natural selection are the selection of the best traits for survival. These traits are passed on, which leads to the evolution and alteration of a species.
8. Some stumpies sat on top of piles of food so that they would eat it all, ensuring their survival. Pinchers began to sprint and use their bodies to block off other animals to get more food. This would affect the allele frequency such that the adapted stumpies would survive and have offspring. The more aggressive, but also smart you were, the more likely you were to survive and reproduce. weak animals in nature sometimes form a herd and work together to survive, while other animals use other strategies, like camouflage.
9. In evolution, the population evolves, not the individual. Natural selection acts on the phenotype of an individual, but ultimately the phenotype is being changed because of how beneficial or not a phenotype is. If a phenotype is helpful. the genotype stays the same, but if the phenotype is bad, the genotype must be altered to become more helpful.
10. I still have a few questions. How slowly or quickly does evolution occur in various populations and what causes this timing to be fast or slow? How do populations 'know' how to genetically change to be better adapted for survival?
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