BIOL 4503 Lecture Notes - Earwax, Genetic Variation, Estrous Cycle

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Explanation of organismal design is among the triumphs of the theory of evolution by natural selection. In order to prove that a trait is an adaptation, we need first to determine what a trait is for and then show that individuals possessing the trait contribute more genes to future generations than individuals lacking it. All hypotheses must be tested: oxpeckers reconsidered: read example on oxpeckers pg. There are two species of oxpecker; one has red bills, the other yellow. It is possible that each color is adaptive for the species that wears it. But it is also possible that the difference is not adaptive at all. Mutations causing different colors may have become fixed in the two oxpeckers by genetic drift. At the molecular level, much of the variation among individuals, populations, and species may be selectively neutral: not every trait of an organism, or every use of a trait by an organism, is an adaptation.

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