Unit 13
13.1 Variation in animals and plants
Describe the
variation in a
species
Learning
objectives Relate this variation
to genetic
differences
between individuals
Variation
Variation is the differences between individuals of the same
species.
Some variations are inherited, and these are controlled by
genes. They are genetic variations.
Phenotypic variations may be produced by genes but can also
be caused by the environment, or a combination of both genes
and the environment.
Types of Variation
(i) Continuous variation.
(ii) Discontinuous variation
Continuous Variation
- There are small degrees of differences for a particular
characteristic between individuals and they are arranged in
order.
- Can be measured on a scale (quantitative).
- Is influenced by combination of both genetic and
environmental variation.
- Controlled by several pair of alleles.
- Represented by line graph
- Height, body mass, finger length, leaf length are examples.
Discontinuous variation
Distinct differences for a characteristic.
No intermediates.
Tends to be qualitative.
Controlled by a few genes.
Represented by bar graphs
Usually caused by genetic variation alone.
Blood group, tongue rolling, fingerprints, sex (male or female),
ear wax type.
Differences due to adaptive
features
• An adaptive feature is an inherited feature that helps an organism
to survive and reproduce in its environment.
• Some adaptive features are very obvious. All fish, for example,
have gills
that allow them to obtain oxygen under water.
• Sometimes, just by looking at an organism and comparing it with
related species, we can make reasoned guesses about adaptation.
• For example, it is logical to assume that the long, hair-fringed hind legs of a
water beetle are adaptations to locomotion in water when compared with the
hind legs of a land-living relative.
• The picture shows the
generalised mammalian
limb compared with
the forelimbs of whales.
It seems reasonable to
conclude that the
forelimbs of whales are
adapted for locomotion
in water.
Darwin’s Natural Selection
In any environment, the individuals that have the best
adaptive features are the ones most likely to survive and
reproduce.
This results in natural selection.
In 1858, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace
published a theory of evolution by natural selection, which
is still an acceptable theory today.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is as follows:
1. Variation: Individuals within a species are all slightly
different from each other. These differences are called
variations. Individuals possessing some of these variations may
be better able to survive than others.
2. Over production: Most species produce far more offspring
than are needed to maintain the population. Thus, there is
competition for limited resources in each generation.
3. Struggle for existence:
Intense struggle between organisms for food, shelter,
breeding space and mate.
The competition is of different levels such as:
(i) interspecific (within the members of
different species) and
(ii) intraspecific (within the members of same
species) .
4. Survival of the fittest: Organisms with better variations
are adapted to their environment and they will survive.
5. Advantageous characteristics passed on to offspring:
Individuals with characteristics most suited to the
environment have a higher chance of survival and more
chances to reproduce.
6. Gradual change: Over a period of time, the population will
lose all the poorly adapted individuals. The population will
gradually become better adapted to its environment. This is
natural selection; the better adapted varieties are ‘selected’ by the
pressures of the environment (selection pressures) to pass on
their characteristics to the next generation.
- Natural selection contributes to the evolution of new species
and that the great variety of living organisms on the Earth is the
product of millions of years of evolution involving natural
selection.
• Adaptation is the process, resulting from natural
selection, by which populations become more suited to
their environment over many generations.
• Evolution can be described as the change in adaptive
features of a population over time as a result of natural
selection.
Examples of natural
selection
Read chapter 13.2 for learn more examples of natural selection
Industrial
Melanism-
Read chapter
13.5 for more
details.
Read chapter 13.3 and
discuss the following:
Describe what happens to the population of a
species when there is an environmental change?
Brainstorm- Think Pair
Share
Why do species go extinct?
Problems of extinction
Humans and extinction
How to prevent or reduce chances of extinction?
