Only nine species of existing land mammals grow to adult bodyweights over 1000 kg (1 megagram). All are herbivores thatemploy fermentative digestion. These “megaherbivores” are thetwo species of elephants, the five species of rhinos, the commonhippo, and the giraffe. What are the metabolic pros and cons ofsuch large size? Can you suggest why no terrestrial carnivoresachieve such large size?
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.
Only nine species of existing land mammals grow to adult body
weights over 1000 kg (1 megagram). All are herbivores that
employ fermentative digestion. These “megaherbivores” are the
two species of elephants, the five species of rhinos, the common
hippo, and the giraffe. What are the
such large size? Can you suggest why no terrestrial carnivores
achieve such large size?
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