Darwinism and Natural Selection

Biological Evolution
Biological Evolution can be defined as ‘descent with modification’. Biological evolution
comprises both of microevolution or small-scale evolution, such as changes in gene from
one generation to the next in a population as well as macroevolution or large-scale
evolution where in different species descend from a common ancestor through several
generations. Biological evolution is the study of history of life and the reasons for the
diversity of life.

That all life forms share a common ancestor, is the central idea of biological evolution.
Through this process of descent with modification, the common ancestor gave rise to the
vast diversity of life forms that we see today on the earth.

Evolution can be viewed in two ways:-

(1) The pattern of evolutionary change, (2) The process of evolutionary change.
Darwinism

Charles Robert Darwin proposed that all species have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors
through the process of Natural Selection. This theory got wide acceptance by the scientific community in the
1930s, and now forms the fundamental basis of the modern evolutionary theory. Also called the Darwin’s
theory of evolution, it got published in ‘The Origin of Species’, consisted of two major hypotheses-

1. All organisms have descended, with modification, from common ancestral forms of life and,
2. A major mechanism of modification is provided by the ‘Natural Selection’.

Explanation of Natural Selection

Darwin coined the term Natural Selection to describe the process by which organisms with superior and
advantageous variations survive in the competitive environment as well as reproduce at a higher rate than
those without these variations. Thus, Natural Selection led to Survival of the Fittest. An inherited variation
that enhances the organism’s probability of survival in a particular environment is called Adaptation. Over
many generations, an adaptation could spread throughout the entire species. In this way, evolution would
occur through Natural Selection.
Darwin’s theory of evolution includes five distinct components:

• Evolution As Such: This theory states that the world is not constant or recently created nor perpetually
cycling, but rather is steadily changing, and that organisms are transformed over time.

• Common descent: This theory considers that every group of organisms descended from a common
ancestor and that all groups of organisms, including animals, plants and microorganisms, ultimately go
back to a single origin of life on the earth.

• Multiplication of Species: This theory explains the origin of the enormous organic diversity. It postulates
that species multiply, either by splitting into daughter species or by budding, that is, by the establishment
of geographically isolated founder populations that evolve into new species.

• Gradualism: According to this theory, evolutionary change takes place through the gradual change of
population and not by the sudden production of new individuals that represent a new type.

• Natural Selection: According to this theory, evolutionary change comes about through the abundant
production of genetic variation in every generation. The relatively few individuals who survive, owing to a
particularly well-adapted combination of inheritable characters, give rise to the next generation.
Natural Selection:

Selection is a composite of all the forces that cause differential survival and differential reproduction among genetic
variants. When selective agencies are primarily those of human choice, the process is called artificial selection. On the
contrary, Natural Selection is the non-random process by which biological traits become more or less common in a
population as a function of the differential reproduction of their ancestors or differences in the rate of survival. Natural
Selection can act on any heritable phenotypic trait and operate among any entities that reproduce and vary in fitness.

Four conditions are necessary when natural selection on a trait will occur and elicit a response:-
1. The trait must be heritable.
2. The trait must vary among the members of the population.
3. The trait must vary in their reproductive fitness.
4. The correlation between the trait and reproductive success must be nonzero.

Adaptation
The progressive genetic improvement in populations resulting from natural selection constitutes the process of
evolutionary adaptation. Adaptations are thus traits that have evolved through the mechanism of natural selection.
Adaptation is both a process and a state.

As a process, adaptation describes the portion of evolutionary change in a trait that is driven by natural selection.
As a state, adaptation describes that aspect of the current condition of a trait that can be reliably ascribed to the past
action of natural selection. Adaptations arise gradually over time as natural selection increases the frequency of alleles
that enhance survival and reproduction.
Evidence of Natural Selection:

(A) Industrial Melanism:

• It is a phenomenon to describe the evolutionary process through which light colored individuals evolved towards dark
colored organism by natural selection
• This phenomenon affected more than 70 species of moths in England., the best-studied example being Biston betularia.
• The species exists in two forms- light and dark. Prior to 1800, dark forms were rare. From 1850 onwards, the dark
population started to dominate in certain ares.
• During the industrial revolution, soot and other industrial wastes darkened the tree trunks and killed of lichens. Since, the
light-colored variant relied on camouflage to avoid predation, this sudden changes in the environment made them
vulnerable to predators. On the other hand, the dark-colored variant became dominant due to survival of fitness and got
naturally selected.
• By 1866, dark forms were far more common explaining the rapid evolutionary change.

(B) Evolution of drug-resistant HIV:

• Evolution of drug resistant HIV is another example of natural selection
• Researchers developed several anti retro-viral drugs to tackle this deadly virus. Drug 3TC (lamivudine) is one such drug.
• 3TC is a nucleoside inhibitor and functions as an analog of C. When RT places a 3TC molecule instead of a C, in a
replicating DNA chain, chain elongation is stopped and the reproduction of HIV is also stopped.
• A slightly evolved HIV, with a slightly modified RT can discriminate between the drug and normal C. It binds only C and
not 3TC. These evolved HIV represent 3TC-resistant HIV.
• The drug did not create these resistant strains of HIV. Rather, acted as a selection force favoring the dominance of the
drug-resistant variants over the wild-type HIV.
Modes of Natural Selection:

Natural Selection can alter frequency distribution of heritable traits in three ways depending on which phenotypes in a
population are favored. Regardless of the mode of selection, the basic mechanism however remains the same. These
three modes of natural selection are:

(1) Directional Selection: This occurs when one extreme of the phenotypic spectrum is favored, while the other extreme
is disfavored within a population. As a result of directional selection, the mean phenotype of the population shifts in
the direction of the favored phenotype. In nature, this type of selection is seen when one of the extreme phenotypes
on one end of the phenotype distribution has the highest fitness and those on the other end have the lowest, primarily
due to changes in the environment. The industrial melanism is an example of directional selection. Features of
directional selection include:-
a. Occurs due to change in the environment in a particular direction.
b. Favors the phenotype which is non-average or extreme.
c. Alters the mean value of the trait in the population in one direction.
d. Favors accumulation of those mutations that increases fitness in the changing environment
e. Eliminate normal or average individuals.

(2) Stabilizing Selection: This occurs when intermediate phenotypes within a population are favored. As a result of
stabilizing selection, an increased frequency of individuals with the intermediate phenotype and a decreased trait
variance occur in a population. In this selection, individuals with intermediate phenotypes have the highest fitness. At the
genetic level, stabilizing selection acts to keep a population well-adapted to its environment. Ex. Birth weight of human
babies
Features of stabilizing selection include:-
a. Operates in the constant or unchanging environment.
b. Keeps a population genetically constant
c. Favors the average or normal phenotypes.

(3) Disruptive Selection: Occurs when extreme phenotypes are favored over intermediate phenotypes within a population.
It can be considered as the reverse of stabilizing selection because the intermediate phenotypes are disfavored. Ex.
Different color pattern of the butterfly Papilio Dardanus. Features of disruptive selection are:-
a. Previously homologous populations breakup into several different adaptive forms.
b. Extreme phenotypes have the highest fitness while mean phenotypes are disfavored.
c. Occurs when a population previously adapted to a non-homologous environment is subjected to divergent selection
pressure in different parts of its distributional area.

Both disruptive and directional selection types are thought to play vital roles in speciation. Since, new species result from
the splitting of an ancestral species into two, stabilizing selection is not usually thought to be involved in the initiation of
speciation. Rather, stabilizing selection can contribute in maintaining phenotypic differences among populations that
evolved as a result of other forms of selection.
Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/280067670553696408/
Sexual Selection
There are certain characteristics that do not appear to increase the survival fitness of an organism and cannot be explained
by natural selection. However, these characteristics enhance the mating success of a species. The peacock’s tail is an
example. It is a non-essential sexual organ, even without which successful mating could have been possible. Also, this tail
actually reduces the male’s survival fitness, as the tail reduces powers of flight in males and its growth requires energy.
Acquisition of such traits can be explained by the concept of sexual selection. Darwin argued that the reduced survival rate
of peacocks with this beautiful tails compensated to a great extent the reproduction rate due these tails. The females
preferentially mated males that had longer, brighter and more attractive tails. A costly or deleterious character that reduces
survival rate in males positively influences the females. This is called the handicap theory.

Sexual selection works in two main ways:

(1) Through competition among members of one sex to access members of the other sex- Mate competition.
(2) Through choice by members of one sex for specific members of the other sex-Mate Choice.
Sexual selection operates more powerfully in polygamous than monogamous species. Hence, secondary sexual characters
are more developed in the polygamous species.

Kin selection
Kin selection occurs when the reproductive success of an organism’s relatives occur, even at the cost of the organism’s
own reproduction and survival. It operates through natural selection. Kin selection has been used to explain the evolution of
cooperation and altruism in animal societies. The evolution of altruistic traits, which is opposed within groups but favored
between groups, is facilitated by close kinship within groups. In 1964, W.D. Hamilton popularized the concept of kin
selection. Typical example includes co-operative behavior of social insects, such as honey bee.