NATURAL SELECTION AND EVOLUTION

Evolution is change in a species over many generations, resulting in the formation of new species.
Natural selection is involved in this formation of new species. New species can form by one
species splitting into two or more species. SPECIATION is the process by which one species splits
into two or more separate species. It is responsible for the formation of any new species that
appear in the fossil record.

Speciation has resulted in the high level of biodiversity on Earth. Biodiversity refers to the number
and range of different species that exist, either on the whole Earth or in any of Earth’s ecosystems.

The process of speciation occurs in three basic steps:

1. variation
2. isolation
3. selection.

STEP 1. VARIATION

There must be variation in the population or speciation cannot occur. This is because natural
selection is involved, and selection can only act on variation that is already present in the
population.

STEP 2. ISOLATION

The formation of new species requires isolation. This means that different groups of the population
are prevented in some way from interbreeding. Isolation prevents gene flow throughout the
population, stopping any differences in one population from reaching the other population. For
example, any new genes that arise by mutation in one isolated population cannot spread to the
other isolated population. The figure below shows an example in which speciation can occur – the
formation of a new species from a common ancestor.
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Isolation into separate populations occurs in several ways, for example by geographical or climatic
barrier. Geographical barriers are oceans, rivers, mountain ranges and gorges. Climatic barriers
include rainfall, temperature, salinity, ocean currents and sunlight.

STEP 3 SELECTION

Once groups of a population are isolated by barriers, natural selection affects the genotype of each
group. This can lead to changes that prevent the groups breeding with each other even if they
come back together again at some time in the future.

A few examples of these changes are:

 Courtship behaviour – animals may develop different breeding songs, displays and rituals.
 Breeding seasons – animals may breed at a different time of year.
 Sterility – animals may breed but the offspring are sterile (like mules).
 Chemical barriers – sperm from males in one group may be killed off by the chemistry of
the females in the other group.

AN EXAMPLE OF SPECIATION

A population of land snails lives in moist areas on the forest floor throughout a wide valley many
kilometres wide and in the hills on either side of the valley. The snails show a wide variation of
colour and banding on their shells.

Over thousands of years, the climate undergoes change. The creeks and wet areas in the valley
dry up and the snails are no longer able to travel from one side of the valley to the other. The forest
on the eastern side of the valley becomes drier than the forest on the western side. The eastern
forest also contains lizards that eat snails. These predators are not found on the western side.
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The two populations of snails become isolated and as a result they cannot mix and interbreed.
Because of the different conditions in the two habitats, the phenotypes of the two snail populations
eventually become distinctly different. The eastern snail is generally smaller and has a thicker shell
with many bands. These features help the snail to avoid water loss, and protect and camouflage it
against predators. The western snail, on the other hand, is generally larger and has few bands on
its relatively thin shell.

A species is defined as a population of organisms that normally interbreed. The eastern and
western snails are said to be different species because they have different mating seasons and
behaviours, and do not interbreed.

A population of any organism contains all the genes that produce the variations of characteristics in
its individuals. The sum of all these genes is called the GENE POOL. For example, the gene pool
of the original snail population contained all the genes that produced the range of shell patterns
and colours.

The gene pool of a population can change by mutations and by natural selection. Mutations add
new genes to the gene pool, and selection removes genes. For example, the eastern snail
population has a thick shell, which is an advantage against predators and water loss. The gene for
this characteristic may have been added to the gene pool from a mutation in the snails’
chromosomes. The gene for thin shells may have been removed from the gene pool because all
snails with thin shells were eaten or dried out and died.
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QUESTIONS

1. List the three mains steps in the process of speciation.

Variation, isolation and selection

2. List four reasons why two very similar animals might not be able to mate.

 Courtship behaviour – animals may develop different breeding songs, displays and rituals.
 Breeding seasons – animals may breed at a different time of year.
 Sterility – animals may breed but the offspring are sterile (like mules).
 Chemical barriers – sperm from males in one group may be killed off by the chemistry of
the females in the other group.

3. What is a gene pool? How do gene pools change over time?

A population of any organism containing all the genes that produce the variations of characteristics
in its individuals. Gene pools can change over time due to mutation and natural selection, where
mutation adds a gene and natural selection removes a gene over time.

4. Explain why a barrier is necessary before speciation can occur.

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A barrier is needed to prevent gene flow throughout the population, stopping any differences in one
population from reaching the other population. For example, any new genes that arise by mutation
in one isolated population cannot spread to the other isolated population, which is needed in order
to produce two different species with different genes.

5. Parrot A lives in forests and feeds on nectar and pollen. It has a repeating, high-pitched call, and
breeds between May and August each year. Parrot B lives in the same habitat as parrot A and also
feeds on nectar and pollen. It has a similar call to parrot A but breeds between September and
November. Would you consider parrot A and parrot B to be the same species?

No, due to its different mating seasons

6. What do you understand by the term evolution? Use the snail story and explain how this is an
example of the process of evolution. List the selection agents that acted on the snail populations
over the period of time in the story.

The snail story explains the process of evolution as it demonstrates the process of how natural
selection acts on a population in order to select organisms that are best fit for its environment and
as a result produces a change in the populations genotype. The selection agents are the lack of
water and lizards

7. Suggest why evolutionary changes to organisms that reproduce many times a year are more
rapid than those in organisms that reproduce only once a year.

More generations of offspring that are produced, the more frequent the genes can be inherited
through the offspring which over time will cause an evolutionary change to that organism.

8. Do you think that organisms stop evolving in environments that change very little over long
periods of time? Explain your answer.

No, the little changes in environments would soon demand an adaptation from the organisms in
order to cope to best fit the environment, which would have to result in a change/evolving of the
population

9. The shark is a fish and the dolphin a mammal, but these two animals have the same basic body
shape and structure. Suggest how natural selection might have caused this similarity.

The two live in the same environment, therefore nature selects dolphins and sharks with the best
body type that can swim efficiently through the water. This body type is needed for both organisms
to catch their prey and ultimately survive long enough to reproduce. This body shape and structure
which derives from genetic mutations are selected and are then passed onto their offsprings. The
next generations will then have the similar genetically inherited body types. This continues for
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many generations to a point where all of the population has the same body type. Due to the
environment that the two populations live in, the selection pressure produces the body shape and
structure of the two, resulting in similarities.

10. The Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) was last seen in the wild in 1932. However, fossils show that it
lived throughout Tasmania and mainland Australia. Biologists now think that this marsupial is
extinct.

(a) What does extinct mean? Use the term gene pool in your answer.

Extinct is a word to describe a population that is no longer existing in a living state. This can be due
to population with a narrow gene pool containing low diversity which is more likely to suffer from
reduced fitness when affected by stresses

(b) Some people think that endangered species should be protected, and breeding programs
established. Others think that it is simply natural selection at work and that the fittest species will
survive. What do you think and why?

I think endangered species should be protected in order for the species to survive, as with the low
population they are already at, it is necessary to produce more offsprings before letting natural
selection do its work. As more offsprings are produced, more variations in the population are also
introduced, this can allow a more successive chance of the population surviving due to selection
pressure.

11. The models right show two ways in which the gene pools of an original species can be
separated and isolated over a long period of time. In model 2, only a very small number of
organisms are isolated from the larger population. Biologists suggest that this model accounts for
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those species that change very quickly from the original one. Give reasons why biologists suggest
this.

12. The map shows the distribution of Fletcher’s frog. It is found in rainforests and breeds in small
pools and creeks.

(a) Suggest why this species of frog is found in two locations that are widely separated.

The environment is suitable for the species of frog to live there.

(b) Suggest what could happen to the frog populations in the two different locations over a period
of time.

Over a period of time, the environment would change and selection pressure would select the frogs
that are best fit for the environment and as a result would have new characteristics. Or new
species could form from the current frog species.
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(c) Biologists say that distribution maps like this are only tentative and may change in years to
come. Suggest factors which you think may cause this map to change.

13. Eucalyptus regnans (mountain ash) is a tall, straight gum tree that grows in dense forests.
Eucalyptus pauciflora (snow gum) is short and twisted and grows in the Snowy Mountains. Explain
why these different species of gum trees would be unlikely to survive if they swapped locations.

The two different species have been selected through natural selection in order to survive in the
environment they are in. Through natural selection, the organisms that are best fit have been
selected so being introduced to a new environment would ultimately result in the species becoming
extinct due to the fact that they are specifically selected to survive in one specific environment and
they don’t have time to adapt to the new harsh environment.

14. Propose a reason why natural selection is more likely to be able to be observed directly in
organisms such as bacteria and insects than in kangaroos and humans.

Those organisms that have been through selection pressure often show what has been selected
through their phenotype which can be seen visibly.

15. The following cartoon and statements summarise how isolation can lead to the formation of
new species.
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(a) Place the statements in the correct order:

GDEBACF

(b) Explain the meaning of the cartoon in relation to the formation of new species.

The formation of new species is due to speciation. In order for it to occur, isolation must occur
between the population of the same species. This is what is depicted in the cartoon above.
Although in the cartoon, the species still have a sexual attraction for each other, this is because the
isolation stage has just been introduced and selection has not occurred for the species to be
different