Part A: Introduction to the History of Evolution Thought

1. It was because it differed from all the other theories at that time. Most scientists
believed in the theory of hierarchy – introduced by Plato and Aristotle- and Darwin’s
idea of evolution was groundbreaking because what the scientists had believed in for
hundreds of years turned out not to be true.

2. He notes that new species resulted from old species adapting to their (new)
environment. When sailing the Galapagos, on the HMS Beagle, he found out that
when the species get geographically separated, they will eventually adapt to their new
environment until it develops new features and qualities. Then we would call it a new
specie.

3. He influenced Darwin because he wrote a book on human struggle for food being a
result from lack of food supplies for a growing population.

4. It is that advantageous traits are passed on to the next generation. The organisms with
the advantageous features and qualities are most likely to survive until reproductive
age, and will most likely reproduce so that these advantageous qualities are passed on
to the next generation.

5. An example is fossil records. It shows how life began as small creatures (prokaryotes)
and evolved into fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. This also confirms
Darwin’s theory of evolution.
A second example is biogeography. Biogeography is the geographical distribution of
species, and it is used to confirm his theory by showing that species in nearby
locations are more alike each other, than animals in locations with similar climates,
even if the climate in the nearby location differ a lot.

Part B: Dating of Fossils

Fossilization is the process whereby the remains or traces of deceased organisms become
mineralized. Usually found in sedimentary rocks, the organic substances of a dead organism
will decay rapidly. The hard parts such as shells and bones will remain as fossils as they are
rich in minerals. Under some conditions, the groundwater, which contain minerals, will seep
into the tissues of the dead organism and replace the organic tissues with minerals, effectively
turning the dead organism into a stone.

Part D: Population Genetics

1. 30% green and 70% yellow.
 2. Homozygous dominant (GG) = 0.09 = 9%
Heterozygous (Gg) = 0.42 = 42%
Homozygous recessive (gg) = 0.49 = 49%

3. My observations does not match the expected values, but in later generations (f2)
they begin to bear a resemblance to the expected frequencies.

4. Yes, there is a variation in frequency of genotypes. This is because the population is

large, and the alleles recombine every generation, creating new offsprings that differ
from their parents.

5. There is no genetic advantage to either of the alleles, random mating, but some of
the sizes of the sample are small, and there are no no advantages for survival for the
different phenotypes.

6. If there was a larger amount of samples the experiment would better fit the Hardy-
Weinberg principle. This would be hard because we had limited time performing the
experiment.

7. A) Mutation: Mutation causes a change in the expression of the alleles, hence,

causes variance in the frequency of the phenotype.

B) Migration: Migration causes a random number of organisms with a certain allele

to move, hence, changing the ratio of genotypes.

8. A) Mutation: the trend of variance in frequency of phenotype would continue (see

7a), but the difference between the extremes (in increase and decrease) would
eventually slow down and fade.

B) Migration: There would be no all yellow alleles, as the ones carrying that
arrangement would migrate away from the area and change the genotypic ratio.

Part E: Changes in Allele Frequency

1. A) Migration in evolution is the movement of populations between different
environments.
 B) If the two populations had different gene frequencies from the start, and if natural
selection is not happening, the gene frequencies of the two populations will come
together because of migration. Migration usually combines gene frequencies in
between populations quickly in evolutionary time. If no natural selection occurs,
migration will balance the gene frequencies of subpopulations in species. Gene
frequencies will then eventually be equalized and reach the species’ average.

3. a) “genetic drift” is changes in the gene pool of a small population due to chance.

b) Genetic drift may be negligible in large populations but when the population is
small, it can reduce genetic variability by fixing alleles in a new colony with a small
number of individuals. Another example is the bottle neck effect; a gene pool begin drift
by chance after the population is drastically reduced by a disaster that kills unselectively

4 a) non-random mating: Mating that has not occurred due to chance, which includes
inbreeding and assortative mating.

b) non-random mating increases the number of gene loci in the population that are
homozygous but it does not itself alter the frequencies of alleles in a population’s
gene pool. Any change in a population’s inbreeding or assortative mating behaviors
will shift the frequencies of different genotypes; thus causing a population to evolve

Part F: Selection
1. This is because phenotypes are the expression of the genetic material, and natural selection
can only work on what is actually expressed.

2.
a) Directional selection
The distribution of phenotypes in a population sometimes changes systematically in a certain
(often advantageous) direction. A good example is breeding of Greyhound dog. The fastest
dogs were selected to be mated. From that generation, a new group of the fastest dogs were
once again selected. By continuing this selection of dogs that run the fastest, a dog that could
run up to 65 km/h was produced.
b) Stabilizing selection
Stabilizing selection is when the mean trait is favoured and the extreme traits are selected
against. A good example of stabilizing selection is the weight of newborn babies. Since large
babies are hard to deliver, and babies of low weight get sick easier, stabilizing the weight is
to favour the mean trait.
c) Disruptive selection
When both extremes in both ends of the range of phenotypes are favoured over the mean
ones, it is called disruptive selection. Let’s say there is a group of black and white rabbits
living in a forest with black and white rocks. The next generation is than a mix of grey, black
and white rabbits. When the predator comes to hunt them , the white and black rabbits will
survive because they both have a place to hide. Hence, the grey rabbits will not survive.

3.
ai) white.
ii) After the industrial revolution, moths became darker in color which allowed them to
better blend into their habitat and avoid birds.

b) As the background, on trees specially, was so dark, the moths who survived were the
darker ones because they could not be spotted by the birds. This way the survival rate of the
black moths, which rapidly reproduced, was much higher and therefore it did rise by so
much.

c) Now, most places have put a pollution abatement programs in place, and most of the
pollution has disappeared, therefore the trees are not as black and the light moths have a
greater chance of survival.

d) The few black moths there were before the industrial revolution were the ones who
survived due to their dark colour, so as they kept reproducing, more black moths were
created. The individual moth does not adapt; either a type of moths with a certain gene
produces a larger amount of offspring’s than the other type.

e) It refers to the genetic change in black peppered moths as they changed due to pollution.
D. “Populations Dynamics” Activity

1. B is the dominant allele, and b is the recessive allele.

2. Frequency of B = number of B alleles / total number of alleles in the gene pool

Frequency of B = 120 / 300
Frequency of B = 0.4

Frequency of b = number of b alleles / total number of alleles in the gene pool

Frequency of b = 180 / 300
Frequency of b = 0.6
3. Frequency of green dibblers = number of green dibblers / total number of dibblers
Frequency of green dibblers = 54 / 150
Frequency of green dibblers = 0.36

4. The frequency of green dibblers is smaller than the frequency of the green allele.

5. The frequency of green dibblers in the population can be shown by q2. (0.36)2 = 0.6

6. 49 have the recessive allele, hence, q2 is 0.49 and q is 0.7.

7. The frequency of the dominant phenotype is 0.51.

8. If q2 = 0.36, then q = the frequency of the recessive allele. If p2 = 0.36, then p would equal
the frequency of the dominant allele.

9. q + p =1
(0.7) + p = 1
p = 0.3

10. p = 0.3 hence, p2 (homozygous dominant) = 0.09.

11. p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1
(0.09) + 2pq + (0.49) = 1
2pq = 0.42

12. q2 = 0.04. q = 0.2

p2 = 0.64. p = 0.8
2pq = 0.32

13. The frequency of their mating = 2pq or 0.32.

14. 2pq x 2pq shows mating between two heterozygous dominant individuals.

15.
p = frequency of the dominant allele
q = frequency of the recessive allele
2pq = frequency of the heterozygote in the population
p2 = frequency of the homozygous dominant individuals in a population
q2 = the frequency of the homozygous recessive individuals in a population

16.
p + q =1
p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1.0
“Population Genetics…and Gene Frequency”

Observations:

A – Original Population

Generatio Green-Green Green- Yellow-

n (GG) Yellow Yellow
(GY) (YY)
1 1 28 21
2 4 22 24
3 3 24 23
4 2 26 22
5 3 24 23

B – Population Affected by Mutation

Generatio Green-Green Green- Yellow-

n (GG) Yellow Yellow
(GY) (YY)
1 6 18 26
2 3 18 29
3 2 17 31
4 3 12 35
5 1 14 35

C – Population Affected by Migration

 Generatio Green-Green Green- Yellow-
n (GG) Yellow Yellow
(GY) (YY)
1 6 18 26
2 6 18 20
3 7 17 15
4 6 18 10
5 7 16 9

Questions:

1. For each of the three sets of observations, calculate the percentage of individuals in
each generation with each of the 3 possible genotypes (GG, Gg and gg). Organize
this information on a chart.

A: Original Population
GENERATION %GG %Gg %gg
1 2 56 42
2 8 44 48
3 6 48 46
4 4 52 44
5 6 48 46

B: Population affected my mutation

GENERATION %GG %Gg %gg
1 12 36 52
2 6 36 58
3 4 34 62
4 6 24 70
5 2 28 70

C: Population affected by migration

GENERATION %GG %Gg %gg
1 12 36 52
2 14 41 45
3 18 44 38
4 18 53 29
5 22 50 28
Part E: Population Genetics and Evolution

– Homozygous dominant individuals : 0.25

– Homozygous recessive individuals : 0.5

– Heterozygous individuals : 0.25

– Population 1: Selective breeding. Females are mating with males with only
homozygous alleles.

– Population 2: Mating between homozygous populations.

– Population 3: Natural selection could have taken out most healthy organisms.

Part II: Application of the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium in a non-changing Population

What is the percent of rr in the population? 81%

Express this proportion as a decimal. 0.81

What component of equation 2 is this equal to? q2

What is the value of q for this population? 0.9

What is the value of p for this population? 0.1

What is the proportion of the population, which will be?

 A) Homozygous for tongue-rolling – 0.01
B) Heterozygous for tongue-rolling – 0.18

Group Tasters Non- Total q2 q P p2 2pg

Tasters
Entire 57 15 72 0.433 0.208 0.791 0.625 1.8
Class
5 5 10 0.25 0.5 0.5 0.25 0.5
A
11 1 12 0.007 0.083 0.917 0.841 0.152
B
8 3 11 0.745 0.273 0.727 0.529 0.397
C
8 1 9 0.012 0.11 0.889 0.790 0.978
D
6 3 9 0.111 0.333 0.667 0.445 0.440
E
10 1 11 0.008 0.090 0.909 0.826 0.164
F
9 1 10 0.01 0.1 0.9 0.81 0.18
G

Part III: Analysis of gene frequencies in a population

Groups B and D differ the most

Group A differs from everyone

Comparing the entire class and the group marked with an *, explain what you would expect
to happen to the frequencies of the T and t allele in this subpopulation as compared to the
original population over many generations, assuming selective forces are absent

In group A, the T and t alleles would remain constant. In other groups, especially the ones
with a low 2pq ratio, the t populations would become smaller. Group D is most likely to have
the highest population of people expressing the recessive trait, while group B, if it has enough
time, may extinguish the trait completely.

Part VI: Genetic Drift in the Presence of Selection

Imagine a condition where a small subpopulation of a species became isolated from the
original population, and that the conditions in the next environment of the subpopulation
were quite different from those of the original population.

1. Would the gene pool of the subpopulation be representative of the original

population? Explain your answer on the basis of data collected in Part V.
No, the gene pool would not necessarily be the same as the original population because the
members of the isolated group were random, and do not reflect the same genotypic
proportions that existed in the original group. The same can be seen in Part V, where most
groups did not exhibit the same ratios of recessive:dominant alleles as the original.

2. Assume that conditions are different enough from the original environment to allow
selection of some phenotypes over others. How would the phenotype frequencies of
the subpopulation compare to those of the original population over a period of many
generations? Explain.

Over a period of many generations, the isolated population will have increased frequencies of
the phenotype that is more advantageous to the organism in the current environment. The
original population will not experience such a change in phenotypic ratio.

3. How would you expect the results of both natural selection and gene drift to compare
to the results of either of the two alone?

If both natural selection and gene drift take place at the same time, species will change
(phenotypically speaking) more quickly than if either was to take place alone. This is
assuming that there is more of the gene that benefits the organism in the new
environment. If that was not the case, and there were very little creatures with
advantageous traits, the population may not survive.

Conclusion

Describe the relationship between changes in genotype frequencies in a population and the
process of evolution.

Genotype frequencies determine genotypic ratios amongst populations. Over generations, if

there are no disturbances, there will become more and more organisms that are either
homozygous dominant or heterozygous. If a population is isolated, gene drift will slowly alter
the population over time to exhibit the best represented trait in the group. Natural selection
and gene drift go hand in hand, as they both seek to alter the species.