BIOL 121 Sec 122 – Winter 2018 Term 1

WEEK 7: PRE-READING ASSIGNMENT

Chapter 24: Evolution by Natural Selection

Recommended approach to pre-readings:

1. Briefly look over the figures/tables and passages listed under “Focus on this material”
(Note: It is recommended that you read the figures/passages in the order indicated):

2. Consider: How familiar are you with this material?

9 This material is pretty much all review for me:
4 Great! To confirm that you do understand everything, check the corresponding
“Questions to think about” column
9 Found something you’re not sure you understand? Check out the material
in the “In-depth reading” column

OR
9 This material is pretty confusing for me:
4 No problem. Check out the material in the “In-depth reading” column
9 Still confused? Try looking it up in the back of the textbook, making a post
about it on Piazza, or looking it up online!

3. Review the chapter “Summary of Key Concepts” (p 474–475)

§ If you are unsure of your understanding of any of these concepts, refer back to the text.

4. …Want more practice?

§ Try out the end of chapter questions (p 475)

1
 TARGETED PRE-READINGS

Focus on this material:

Figures, tables, or passages: Questions to think about: In-depth reading (optional):

p 464 24.3 § Consider each of the four postulates. p 464 24.3 The Process of
Darwin’s Four Postulates § Can you come up with a way to summarize each Evolution: How Does
“1. The individual postulate in 2–3 words? In other words, try to give Natural Selection Work?
organisms … meaning, by each postulate a brief title/heading. [Entire section]
the environment.” § Compare the way each of the four postulates is listed on p p 466 24.4
464 to the way they are summarized on p 466 (bottom TESTING DARWIN’S
left: “TESTING DARWIN’S POSTULATES”). POSTULATES
§ How do the titles/headings you came up with [Entire section]
compare to the ones on p 466? Can you think of any
way of modifying your characterization of each
postulate to make it more apt and/or succinct?
§ Now compare your revised versions of the postulates to
the following passage (taken from p 464 of the textbook):
“Today, biologists usually condense Darwin’s four
postulates into a two-part statement that communicates
the essence of evolution by natural selection more
forcefully: evolution by natural selection occurs when (1)
heritable variation leads to (2) differential reproductive
success.”
§ How do your postulates correspond to the key ideas
expressed in this statement?
§ What might be a possible benefit of formulating
these ideas as four separate postulates, rather than
two?
p 466 Figure 24.13 § Consider the sequence of events shown in Figure 24.13. p 465 24.4 Evolution in Action:
“Alleles That Confer Drug § What aspects of this process are the result of Recent Research on
Resistance Increase in random (= unpredictable) events? Natural Selection
Frequency When Drugs § In what way does this figure illustrate evolution occurring? [Entire section]
Are Used.” (Remember that evolution = change in allele frequencies
over time.)
§ In this example, how does the environment influence the
survival and reproductive success (= fitness) of the
bacteria?
p 483 Figure 25.3 § Consider the each of the three types of natural selection p 482– 25.2 Types of Natural
“Directional Selection.” shown in Figures 25.3, 25.4, & 25.5. 485 Selection
p 484 Figure 25.4 § How does each figure illustrate non-random [Entire section]
“Stabilizing Selection.” variation in survival and/or reproductive success (=
p 485 Figure 25.5 fitness)?
“Disruptive Selection.” § In each example, how does fitness vary with respect
to the trait value?
§ How does each form of natural selection influence
genetic variation in the population?
§ Optional: If you are interested in evolution by natural
selection and want to read more, I highly recommend
reading the following textbook section:
§ p 471–474: Section 24.5
Common Misconceptions about Natural Selection
and Adaptation