Question

< Question 15 of 20 > Attempt 7 Classify the statements as examples of directional selection, stabilizing selection, or disruptive selection. Directional selection Stabilizing selection Disruptive selection Individuals of a bat species have wingspans ranging from 20 cm to 40 cm. After several generations, most bats have either small wingspans or large wingspans. Individuals of a bird species lay between 1 and 20 eggs. Individuals of the bird species lay between 5 and 15 eggs after several generations. Individuals of a bird species lay eggs of various brown colors in a depression on the ground. After several generations, the birds lay mostly dark brown eggs. Answer Bank

Answer 1

Individuals of a bat species have wingspans ranging from 20cm to 40cm. After several generations most bats have either small wingspans or large wingspans- Disruptive selection (In this type of selection, extreme phenotypes are selected by nature, whereas, intermediate characters are eliminated. After several generations, we can observe that bats with small and large wingspans, that is, the extreme phenotypes have been selected).

Individuals of a bird species lay between 1 and 20 eggs. Individuals of the bird species lay between 5 and 15 eggs after several generations- Stabilizing selection. (In this type of selection, intermediate characters are favored by nature, whereas, the extreme characters are eliminated).

Individuals of a bird species lay eggs of various brown colors in a depression on the ground. After several generations, the birds lay mostly dark brown eggs- Directional selection. (Here, the population is seen moving towards a particular direction, and after several generations, one extreme phenotype (dark brown eggs in this case) is selected.