CHAPTER 2

VARIATION
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Define variation

• Describe types of variations: Continuous and Discontinuous variations

• Define selection

• Explain two types of selection

• Natural selection
• Artificial selection
• Define the biological species concept

• Define speciation

• State the factors involved in formation of new species.

DEFINITION OF VARIATION

 Variation: differences in characteristics among individuals of the same

species
 Occur due to:
 Differences in genetic constitution
 Differences in environmental condition
 Interaction between genetic and environmental
TYPES OF VARIATION

CONTINUOUS DISCONTINUOUS
 Qualitative
 Quantitative
 No gradation of character
 Shows gradation.
 Limited number of distinct forms for a
 Example: ?? particular trait.
 Can be affected by environmental factors  Example: ??
and genetic factors  Caused solely by genetic factors.
 Graph usually normal/bell-shaped Environmental conditions do not affect
discontinuous variation
 No continuous spread of data
TYPES OF VARIATION
DEFINITION OF SELECTION

 Selection is a process in which individuals or groups of plants or animals with

desired characteristics are chosen (selected) from a population while the
undesirable ones are eliminated.
 Those selected can live longer and reproduce (survival of the fittest).
 Two types of selections:
 Natural selection: environmental conditions determine which individuals in a population
produce the most offspring
 Artificial selection: breeder selects for the desired characteristics
TYPE OF SELECTION: NATURAL SELECTION
 A mechanism of evolution in which members of a population that have certain favourable traits
become adapted to the environment and those traits are passed on to the next generation.
 Mechanism that causes evaluation

 Results from the adaptation of an organism to its environment.

 Preserves individuals with favourable phenotypes and eliminates the unfavourable

NATURAL SELECTION: EXAMPLE
NATURAL SELECTION: EXAMPLE
TYPE OF SELECTION: ARTIFICIAL SELECTION
 Selection that involves human intervention human intervention (instead of nature) to produced
desired phenotypes/ traits.
 Alter the genotype and produce a new strain/ breed of organism for a specific purpose.

 Carried out by selective breeding of organism showing desired traits/ characteristics

 Natural selection modifies population. Some evolutionary changes are so significant that some
organisms cannot interbreed with the original population
 Natural selection can result in organisms that are more likely to survive and reproduce and may
eventually lead to speciation.
 Speciation is completed when groups in a species become reproductively isolated and diverge.
When gene pool of a population sufficiently different from the ancestral.
 Speciation is the mechanism by which a new species is formed.
 BIOLOGICAL SPECIES CONCEPT
 Species: a population or group of populations whose members have the potential
to interbreed in nature and produce viable, fertile offspring.
 Different species do not interbreed with each other or cannot produce viable,
fertile offspring
 Reproductively isolated
DEFINITION AND TYPES OF SPECIATION
 Evolutionary process by which new biological species arise from pre-existing species.
 Mechanism by which new species are formed.
 It is believed that most species arise as a result of populations becoming isolated from
one another
 Eventually develop barriers for reproduction and mating between the populations.
 Types or modes of speciation
 Allopatric speciation
 Sympatric speciation
 ALLOPATRIC SPECIATION
 Also known as geographic speciation

 Speciation occurs when biological populations of the same

species become isolated due to geographical changes.
 The population must be separated either by distance or an
impassable barrier (physical barrier) preventing allele
exchange.
South rim of North rim of
Grand Canyon Grand Canyon
 SYMPATRIC SPECIATION
 New species evolve from a single ancestral species, all occupying
the same geographic location (without geographical separation)
 Occurs in geographically overlapping populations when biological
factors such as chromosomal changes and non-random mating,
reduce the gene flow
 There is something within the environment that keeps a single
species separated into two or more distinct groups
 Sympatric speciation is a rare event (common in plants).
 Can occur due to:
 Habitat differentiation (difference in feeding experiences)
 Sexual selection
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION (FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES)

 Isolation

 Genetic drift

 Hybridization

 Adaptive radiation
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: ISOLATION

 Organisms of the same species are separated

 The separated groups are not able to reproduce, so variations and mutations that occur in one
group are not necessarily found in the other group.
 The longer the groups are isolated. The more different they are.

 Eventually becoming different species causes mating between them to either not happen or to be
unsuccessful.
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: ISOLATION

Isolation

Geographic Reproductive
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION
 Biological factors (barriers) that hinder members of two
species from producing viable, fertile offspring
 Various reproductive isolating mechanisms prevent
interbreeding between two species whose ranges overlap.
 Prezygotic barrier (occurs before mating or fertilization)
 Prevent interbreeding
 Prevent fertilization
 Prevent the formation of zygotes
 Postzygotic barrier (occurs after mating or fertilization)
 Prevent the proper functioning of zygotes
 Hybrid aborts
 Hybrid sterility
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – HABITAT ISOLATION
 Two species are found in the same area but occupy different habitats

 They may utilize different portions of the environment and not hybridize because they do not encounter
each other
 E.g. Garter snakes Thamnophis elegans live in water and Thamnophis atratus lives on land/ terrestial

Terrestrial

Aquatic
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – HABITAT ISOLATION

 E.g. Tiger (Panthera tigris) lives in the rainforest and lion (Panthera leo) lives on grassland

Rainforest

Grassland/
Savannah
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – TEMPORAL ISOLATION
 Species reproduce (mating/ flowering) in different seasons or at different times.

 Hybrids between two species can easily made experimentally, but in nature rarely occurs

 E.g. Western spotted skunk (Spilogale gracilis) breed during fall and Eastern spotted skunk
(Spilogale putorius) breed in late winter

Fall

Late winter
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – TEMPORAL ISOLATION

 E.g. Pinus radiata flowers in February and Pinus attenuata flowers in April

February

April
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – BEHAVIOURAL ISOLATION
 Species differ in their mating/ courtship
rituals
 Rituals that enable mate recognition
 E.g. Blue-footed boobies
 Male high steps to draw attention; ‘show off’ his feet to
female.
 They also fly over the female’s heads to flash their feet

Sula nebouxii
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – BEHAVIOURAL ISOLATION

 E.g. Bowerbird

Sericulus ardens
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – BEHAVIOURAL ISOLATION

 E.g. Eastern and Western

Meadowlark bird
 Meadowlarks are very similar, yet
they will not interbreed
 They use different songs to attract
mates

Eastern Western
(Sturnella magna) (Sturnella neglecta)
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – MECHANICAL ISOLATION
 Structural differences in reproductive organs
(genitalia/ flowers) between different species
prevent copulation or pollen transfer
 Even in closely related species of plants, the flowers often have
distinct appearances that attract different pollinators

 Anatomical incompatibility
 E.g. Black sage and white sage plants
 Differences in flower structure have different types of pollinating
bees.
 Big bees do not fit on the black sage petals
 Small bees do not brush up against the stamen of white sage
petals.
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – MECHANICAL ISOLATION
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – MECHANICAL ISOLATION

 E.g. Snails
 Genital opening that is not
aligned hence, mating cannot be
completed

Bradybaena similaris
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – PREZYGOTIC – GAMETIC ISOLATION
Red
(Strongylocentrotus franciscanus)
 Gametes of one species unable to fertilize
with the gametes of another species to
form a zygote
 Prevention of gamete fusion
 Sperm can only fertilize the correct egg
 Usually chemically based (protein receptors on cell
membranes)

 E.g. Sea urchins

 Two different species of sea urchins have differing
gamete proteins, and their gametes will only fuse with
those the same species. Purple
(Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – POSTZYGOTIC

 Prezygotic prevents the formation of hybrid zygotes.

 If mating does occur and zygotes are produced, many factors still prevent them from becoming
fertile individuals.
 The genetic complement of two species is so different that they cannot function together normally
 Embryos may die before reaching maturity.

 Even if they can survive the embryo stage, if they are weaker than their parents, they will be
eliminated in nature (hybrid inviability)
 If they are strong, they may still be sterile (hybrid infertility)
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – POSTZYGOTIC

Reduced hybrid viability (Hybrid inviability)

 Even if they can survive the embryo stage, if
they are weaker than their parents, they will
be eliminated in nature
 E.g: Frogs of the genus Rana can form
hybrid tadpoles which die before adulthood

Rana temporaria
 REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – POSTZYGOTIC

Reduced hybrid fertility (Hybrid sterility)

 And if they are strong, they may still be sterile

 Fail to produce functional gametes

 E.g: Mating between a horse and a donkey

REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION – POSTZYGOTIC

Hybrid breakdown
 Hybrid of F1 generation are viable and Hybrid
fertile but F2 generation fails to develop
or infertile.
 In other words, the negative effects of
hybridization become more pronounced
in subsequent generations
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION (FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES)

 Isolation

 Genetic drift

 Hybridization

 Adaptive radiation
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: GENETIC DRIFT

 Gradual changes in allele frequencies of a gene pool from one generation to

another that occur by chance (random events).
 Occurs in populations of all sizes but the effects are more significant in small
populations
 Two important causes of genetic drift:
 Founder effect
 Bottlenecks
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: GENETIC DRIFT
Founder effects
 Occur when a small population (i.e ‘founders’) is isolated/ migrated from the original larger population
 The new population colonized in an unoccupied and isolated area that prevent the gene flow between
the initial and new population
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: GENETIC DRIFT
Bottleneck effects
▪ Sudden changes in the environment such as volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes, fire,
earthquakes, overhunting, overharvesting, reduction of food supply and disruption of habitat
▪ The few surviving individuals (the survivors) may constitute a random genetic sample of the
original population hence, the genetic variability is reduced.
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION (FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES)

 Isolation

 Genetic drift

 Hybridization

 Adaptive radiation
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: HYBRIDIZATION
 Breeding between individuals from different species.
 The progenies produced are called hybrids.
 In Kingdom Animalia hybrids are usually rare and hardly successful - resulting in
unhealthy and sterile offspring or no offspring at all.
 In Kingdom Plantae, hybridization is important.
 Hybridization in plants begins with polyploidy
 In order to produce a fertile hybrid or new species, hybridization must be followed by
chromosome doubling.
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION (FORMATION OF NEW SPECIES)

 Isolation

 Genetic drift

 Hybridization

 Adaptive radiation
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION: ADAPTIVE RADIATION

 Dispersion of individuals from one population into several new habitats and
undergo adaptation to live in the new environments.
 Over time, an animal or plant population evolves into a wide variety of types
adapted to specialized modes of life.
 The individuals of the subpopulations are not able to interbreed to produce fertile
offspring hence, the dispersed group has become a new species.
 Darwin’s finches (finches of Galápagos islands)
FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION:
ADAPTIVE RADIATION
Darwin’s finches (finches of Galápagos islands)
 There are 14 species of finch that evolved from
individuals belonging to one mainland species.
 Initially, a few mainland species migrate to one of the
Galápagos islands.
 After the original population of a single island
increased, some individuals dispersed to other islands
and adapted to ecological niches.
 The islands are ecologically different enough to have
promoted divergent feeding habits.
 They evolved in different-sized beaks in relation to the
food sources – and adapted to gathering and eating
different types of food.
 FACTORS INVOLVED IN SPECIATION:
ADAPTIVE RADIATION
▪ Ground finches
Feed on seeds- beak is related to the size of the
seeds they eat
 Tree finches
Insect-eating, four of them have beaks suitable for
feeding insects, the woodpecker finch has a chisel-
like beak
 Warbler finch
Same with warblers on the mainland, has a slender,
warbler-like beak
 Vegetarian finch
Bud-eating bird, a very heavy beak used to wrench
buds from branches