Overview
Stabilizing selection is a fundamental concept in evolutionary biology that emphasizes the importance of average traits in a population. By favoring individuals with traits that are well-suited to their environment, stabilizing selection helps maintain the status quo and reduces variation. This proc...
Key Terms
Example: Darwin's finches show natural selection through beak size variation.
Example: Color variations in flowers due to genetic differences.
Example: Camouflage in animals helps them avoid predators.
Example: Changes in predator and prey populations affect each other.
Example: Peppered moths becoming darker during the Industrial Revolution.
Example: African seedcracker birds with either very large or very small beaks.
Related Topics
Directional Selection
A type of natural selection that favors one extreme phenotype over others.
intermediateDisruptive Selection
Selection that favors extreme phenotypes over intermediate ones.
intermediateGenetic Drift
Random changes in allele frequencies in a population.
advancedEvolutionary Adaptation
The process by which a species becomes better suited to its environment.
intermediateKey Concepts
natural selectiongenetic variationadaptive traitspopulation dynamics