Chapter 7 Section 3

Give 3 examples of natural selection in action

Outline the process of speciation

VOCABULARY:
 Generation time
 Speciation
The ways that populations change in response to the
environment through ongoing natural selection

Well-adapted individuals are likely to survive and

reproduce

Examples of natural selection in action:

 Adaptation to Hunting
 Insecticide Resistance
 Competition for Mates
Ex: Hunting in Uganda is affecting the elephant
population

Elephants are hunted for their ivory tusks

Elephants born without tusks has risen from 1% in

1930’s to 15% today

Fewer elephants with tusks are making to survival

Insecticides are used to control the insect population

Some insects are resistant to the insecticide

These insects pass this resistant trait on to their

offspring

Insects have a short generation time (average time

between one generation and the next) so the
population soon becomes resistant to the insecticide
Competition for mates can select for adaptations

Ex: in bird populations, females prefer colorful mates

Colorful males produce more offspring than non-

colorful males

The proportion of colorful males will increase over

generations
A new species may form when the group is separated
from the original population

The new population can no longer reproduce with the

original population and produce fertile offspring

Speciation: the formation of a new species as a result

of evolution
Speciation occurs when a part of the population gets
separated from the rest

Can happen in several ways:

 Newly formed canyons
 Mountain ranges
 Lakes
After two groups have separated, natural selection
acts on the group

Evolve a different set of traits over time

If environmental conditions differ, the adaptations

will also differ
Over many generations, 2 separated groups become
very different

Even if the geographic barrier is removed, they can no

longer interbreed

They have become different species

Construct a concept map that shows how a
population of mosquitoes can develop resistance to a
pesticide
Holt Science and Technology: Life Science. Austin:
Holt Rinehart & Winston, 2007. Print.