Biology 1001A Chapter Notes - Chapter Cycle 6: Snow Goose, Genotype Frequency, Allele Frequency
11 Dec 2017
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Individuals vary in appearance, but most populations look pretty much alike: you can classify individuals by biochemistry, physiology, internal anatomy, and behaviour. These examples are phenotypic variation; the differences in appearance/function from individuals. If a different is heritable, it is passed from generation to generation. Not all variation is heritable; for example, habits that a person acquires is not heritable, or activities learned in his/her lifetime. Most characters exhibit quantitative variation; individuals differ in small, incremental ways. Ex. lengths of height, number of hairs on their heads, and their weight. Data can be displayed on a graph; if the sample is large enough, as a curve. The width of a curve is proportional to the variability (amount of variation, among individuals), and the mean describes the average value of the character. Natural selection often changes the mean value of the character or variability. Exist in two or more discrete states, and intermediate forms are often absent.
