Natural selection

By Kael, Pranshu and Robin

What is natural
selection
• Continued variation – height 
• Discontinued variation – Blood group
• Individuals with characteristics most suited to the
environment have a higher chance of survival and more
chances to reproduce
• characteristics are passed to the offspring at a higher
rate those with characteristics less suited to survival
Environmental
pressures 
Over population
Changing environment
Resource management
Predators
ISOLATION
New species can also arise as a result of isolation:

two populations of a species can become geographically

separated because of the environment

isolation can prevent interbreeding and the combination of

genes within a species

different mutations can take place in the isolated groups and

create different phenotypes within a particular location

over time species may evolve to be different to each other,

and they will not be able to interbreed
Isolation 
The diagram illustrates what
could happen to an animal
population, which is
separated into two isolated
groups by a geographical
feature, such as a mountain
or river.
Directional
Stabilising
Types of natural
Disruptive selection
directional

• Extreme trades have a greater fitness then the average form of the trait
Stabilising

•The average form of the trait has the highest fitness

Disruptive

•Both extreme variation of the trait have a greater fitness than other forms
of trait
Other key concepts
Descent with
modification
• Observable fact that when parents have
children, they often look and behave
slightly differently from their parents and
each other
• They descend from their parents, with
modification
• Differences in offspring are partially due
to random genetic mutations
Common descent
• Idea that all living things on earth are
related
• They descended from their common
ancestor
• However, common descent is NOT an
observable fact (unlike descent with
modification)
• We cannot go back in time and watch it
happen
• Instead, common descent is a
conclusion, based on a massive
collection of facts
Charles Darwin
Darwin proposed that:
• individual organisms within a
particular species show a wide range
of variation for a characteristic
• individuals with characteristics most
suited to the environment are more
likely to survive to breed successfully
• the characteristics that have enabled
these individuals to survive are then
passed on to the next generation
• This theory is called natural selection.
Case study – The Galapagos Islands
Where are the
Galápagos Islands?

• The Galápagos Islands are

an archipelago or group
of islands that have been created
by volcanoes.
•  They are found in the Pacific Ocean,
almost 1,000 km from the coast of
Ecuador in South America.
•  The islands are at either side of the
Equator, which means they are in
both the Southern and the Northern
Hemisphere.
 •  Darwin's studies revealed that the finches had wide variations in
their size, beaks and claws from island to island.

Finch •  The finches' beaks differed depending on the local food source.

•  Darwin concluded that because the islands were distant from

the mainland, the finches that had arrived there had changed over
time.
 Rapid evolution 

• A third of the elephants are tuskless in Mozambique

• Elephants use their tusks for digging, lifting objects, gathering food,
stripping bark from trees to eat.
• Since the tusks aren’t used, some elephants have evolved to not have
them.
• This has lead to a decrease in possible in their pop.
 BACK YOUR
Sources ANWSERS

Charles
Natural selec Descent with Variation2
tion modification Darwin

Finches Isolation isolation2

Thanks you for
listening