Concept explainers
To review:
The benefit of conducting research on evolution in a population of short-lived organisms such as fruit flies.
Introduction:
Evolution is a process that occurs over many generations.
Explanation of Solution
Many generations have to go through selection (natural selection or artificial selection by scientists) for evolution to occur. If a particular trait gives an organism an advantage in survival, it will become common in the population. Organisms with a short lifespan are preferred for the study of evolution because such organisms reach maturity soon. Therefore, many generations of organisms can be included in the experiment. On the contrary, if an organism with a long lifespan were to be chosen for study, it would take years to perform the experiment.
As seen in the starvation experiment, the study of organisms with a short lifespan allows the researcher to include many generations in the experiment.
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Chapter 10 Solutions
WHAT IS LIFE? A GUIDE TO BIOLOGY W/PHYS.
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- Biology (MindTap Course List)BiologyISBN:9781337392938Author:Eldra Solomon, Charles Martin, Diana W. Martin, Linda R. BergPublisher:Cengage Learning