PSYCH 3F03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Base Pair, Meiosis, Richard Lewontin
16 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Natural selection is a process of non-random elimination . Spencer"s statement, survival of the fittest is quite legitimate, provided the term fittest is properly defined. Second kind of selection which darwin called sexual selection: consisted of the preference of females (female choice) for particular males as well as in polygamous species the battles of males for the greatest possible harem. Since darwin"s days, this kind of selection is better referred to as selection for reproductive success : includes parent-offspring conflict, sibling rivalry, etc. Darwinian selection is a two-step process: first step is the production of a vast amount of variation that will serve as the material needed for the second step, the actual process of selection/elimination. The individual organism was the object of selection for darwin and most evolutionists: the individual is the entity which survives or not, which reproduces or not, and which reproduces successfully or not.
