Question

For 3. Define the terms fitness, adaptation, natural selection, and evolution. 4. Why is variation so crucial for the survival of a species? 5. If the environment changes, is it certain that a species will adapt to it and survive? Why? 6. Does modern medicine affect natural selection in the human species today? Explain.

Answer 1

ANSWER:

Question 3

Fitness, also called Darwinian fitness, means the ability to survive to reproductive age, find a mate, and produce offspring. ... Fitness is usually discussed in terms of genotypes, or collection of genes. Genotype fitness is the average fitness of all individuals in a population that have a specific genotype.

Adaptation the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment."living in groups is an adaptation to increase the efficiency of hunting.

Natural selection the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin, and it is now regarded as be the main process that brings about evolution.

Evolution is the change in the characteristics of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection. Evolution relies on there being genetic variation? in a population which affects the physical characteristics (phenotype) of an organism.

Question 4

Genetic variation is an important force in evolution as it allows natural selection to increase or decrease frequency of alleles already in the population. ... Genetic variation is advantageous to a population because it enables some individuals to adapt to the environment while maintaining the survival of the population.