Task: Question Answering
Input (English): Context: We now know how variation in traits is inherited. Variation in traits is controlled by different alleles for genes. Alleles, in turn, are passed to gametes and then to offspring. Evolution occurs because of changes in alleles over time. How long a time? That depends on the time scale of evolution you consider. Evolution that occurs over a short period of time is known as microevolution. It might take place in just a couple of generations. This scale of evolution occurs at the level of the population. The Grants observed evolution at this scale in populations of Darwins finches. Beak size in finch populations changed in just two years because of a serious drought. Evolution that occurs over a long period of time is called macroevolution. It might take place over millions of years. This scale of evolution occurs above the level of the species. Fossils provide evidence for evolution at this scale. The evolution of the horse family, shown in Figure 7.13, is an example of macroevolution. Individuals dont evolve. Their alleles dont change over time. The unit of microevolution is the population. A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area. All the genes in all the members of a population make up the populations gene pool. For each gene, the gene pool includes all the different alleles in the population. The gene pool can be described by its allele frequencies for specific genes. The frequency of an allele is the number of copies of that allele divided by the total number of alleles for the gene in the gene pool. A simple example will help you understand these concepts. The data in Table 7.2 represent a population of 100 individuals. For each gene, the gene pool has a total of 200 alleles (2 per individual x 100 individuals). The gene in question exists as two different alleles, A and a. The number of A alleles in the gene pool is 140. Of these, 100 are in the 50 AA homozygotes. Another 40 are in the 40 Aa heterozygotes. The number of a alleles in the gene pool is 60. Of these, 40 are in the 40 Aa heterozygotes. Another 20 are in the 10 aa homozygotes. The frequency of the A allele is 140/200 = 0.7. The frequency of the a allele is 60/200 = 0.3. Genotype AA Aa aa Totals Number of Individuals 50 40 10 100 Number of A Alleles 100 (50 x 2) 40 (40 x 1) 0 (10 x 0) 140 Number of a Alleles 0 (50 x 0) 40 (40 x 1) 20 (10 x 2) 60 Evolution occurs in a population when its allele frequencies change over time. For example, the frequency of the A allele might change from 0.7 to 0.8. If that happens, evolution has occurred. What causes allele frequencies to change? The answer is forces of evolution. There are four major forces of evolution that cause allele frequencies to change. They are mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection. Mutation creates new genetic variation in a gene pool This is how all new alleles first arise. Its the ultimate source of new genetic variation, so it is essential for evolution. However, for any given gene, the chance of a mutation occurring is very small. Therefore, mutation alone does not have much effect on allele frequencies. Gene flow is the movement of genes into or out of a gene pool It occurs when individuals migrate into or out of the population. How much gene flow changes allele frequencies depends on how many migrants there are and their genotypes. Genetic drift is a random change in allele frequencies. It occurs in small populations. Allele frequencies in the offspring may differ by chance from those in the parents. This is like tossing a coin just a few times. You may, by chance, get more or less than the expected 50 percent heads or tails. In the same way, you may get more or less than the expected allele frequencies in the small number of individuals in the next generation. The smaller the population is, the more allele frequencies may drift. Natural selection is a change in 
 Question: Darwin thought that evolution occurs by
Output (English): natural selection