In pygmy grasshoppers individuals are highly variable in coloration. They live on gravel at the edge of streams. The pebbles in the gravel are variable in color and the grasshoppers have colors similar to the gravel. A scientist is interested in the maintenance of the variation in grasshopper color. She adds one hundred grasshoppers that are the same color (light brown) to the population. There already were some light brown grasshoppers present and there are light brown pebbles present as well. She notices that birds feeding on the gravel start catching the light brown grasshoppers more than you would expect. Once the proportion of light brown grasshoppers is back down to its original level then the birds stop eating them so much. What evolutionary force is acting on grasshopper color?
Evolutionary Genetics
Evolution is known as continuous changes that occur to adjust organisms in their changing environment over many generations. Various theories have been proposed to illustrate the origin of life and organic evolution. The most accepted one is the theory of natural selection by Charles Darwin. According to his postulate, organisms undergo a struggle for existence due to overproduction. To survive in nature, they acquire variations. The inheritable variations are selected by nature, and it leads to the survival of the fittest.
Phenotype Frequency
The majority of populations have a certain degree of variation in their genetic pools. Scientists can predict the genetic variation happening over time by measuring the amount of genetic variation in a population and these predictions assist them in gaining important insights into the processes that allow organisms to adapt to the environment or to develop into new species over generations. This process is referred to as the process of evolution.
Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium
The frequencies of allele and genotype were maintained constant from one generation to another due to the absence of other evolutionary forces. It is otherwise called the Hardy Weinberg principle the field of population genetics.
In pygmy grasshoppers individuals are highly variable in coloration. They live on gravel at the edge of streams. The pebbles in the gravel are variable in color and the grasshoppers have colors similar to the gravel. A scientist is interested in the maintenance of the variation in grasshopper color. She adds one hundred grasshoppers that are the same color (light brown) to the population. There already were some light brown grasshoppers present and there are light brown pebbles present as well. She notices that birds feeding on the gravel start catching the light brown grasshoppers more than you would expect. Once the proportion of light brown grasshoppers is back down to its original level then the birds stop eating them so much.
What evolutionary force is acting on grasshopper color?
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