BIOL10004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Coevolution, Penicillin, Lycaenidae
Document Summary
Variation in a particular trait across species. Observed variation among individuals in morphology, development or behaviour. Hair, eye, skin colour, height- what we can see. Genotypic variation the genes an organism inherits (differences are sometimes invisible") Basis of information that allows the body to produce the difference of brown vs red hair for example. The raw material on which evolutionary processes act, is generated by mutation and recombination. Recombination is much faster for generating genetic diversity than mutation. Evolution- results in individuals that are able to survive and reproduce in their local environment well enough to produce viable and fertile offspring. Change over time in the genetic composition of populations. ~1. 5 million named species, but many more require formal descriptions. Almost half of all insects are beetles estimates of the actual number of species range from 3-80 million. Insect antennae are used to detect (mostly) chemical signals- so much variation for essentially the same function.
