Evolution with Delaney!

 Something that makes me happy is my dogs! I realize there's probably a lot of people discussing their dogs in this weeks blogpost but they truly are a gift from God! They always bring comedic relief, will cuddle with you, and are just fun to be around. This is my dog Charlie. When we adopted her from the animal rescue, we were initially told that she was a terrier/poodle mix. We already had a terrier/Poodle mix and it was very obvious Charlie was not similar to her so we had her DNA tested! Turns out she is a Golden Retriever, Poodle, Miniature Pinscher, Chihuahua mix! She is almost three years old and is the best cuddler ever. This is Kia! She is a Jack Russell terrier/Poodle mix! She turned 14 in August and is the sweetest old lady. She was super rambunctious when she was younger and loved to dig her way out of the backyard. We thought her gallivanting days were over but two weeks ago the neighbor found her in their backyard. I guess some things never change.  Here is Kia and Ch

  In these story book pages there are blue mice and grey mice. The grey mice blend in very well with the street and sidewalk while the blue mice stick out. As a result of being so visible, a bird preys on a blue mouse. The loss of the blue mouse changes the allele frequency in the population of mice. With less blue mice available to reproduce, the subsequent generation has a higher frequency of grey mice and their alleles than the original population. This is   NOT genetic drift. The changes in allele frequency in this case were because of decreased fitness and were not random. In these story book pages there is a population of grey and blue mice. Some of the grey mice are in the street when a car comes and runs them over. This reduced the population and changed the allele frequencies. The frequency of the allele leading to a blue coat is now much higher than it was. As a result, subsequent populations have a higher percentage of blue mice than the original population did. This IS due

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedirect.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fpii%2FS0960982218309801&psig=AOvVaw32wrIV4W1HqwrnvInzGhsq&ust=1603210946016000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCNDt_KeIwewCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAI Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of an organism to change its phenotype to fit its environment for better fitness. The lectures discussed phenotypic plasticity in lava lizards. Researchers looked at three different populations: Pisgah lava flow lizards, off-lava lizards, and Amboy lava flow lizards. They found that the lizards exhibited phenotypic plasticity and were able to change colors to better match their environments. However, they found that Pisgah lava lizards were able to maintain a darker color than other lizards. Through exome sequencing the researchers were able to determine that there is gene variation in the  PREP and PRKAR1A genes in the Pisgah lava flow lizards. These variations were not found in either the

Over the past few lectures we have discussed various types of selection.  Positive Frequency Dependent Selection: The higher the frequency of the allele the higher the fitness. Negative Frequency Dependent Selection: The lower the frequency of the allele the higher the fitness. This is a form of balancing selection. Directional Selection: Individuals with a more extreme version of a trait are favored. One way.  Stabilizing Selection: Individuals with the intermediate or average version of a trait have the highest fitness. Disruptive Selection: Individuals with either extreme of a trait have the highest fitness. Individuals with the the average trait have the lowest fitness. 

  1. The strength of selection influences allelic frequency over generations.        a. Under what circumstances do we expect to see an increase in allelic frequency? If the red allele frequency is higher than the blue allele frequency and their relative fitnesses are the same, the red allele frequency still increases. This way bb fitness would not need to be reduced. If the blue allele initial frequency is higher than the red, the bb relative fitness needs to be low for there to be an increase in red allele frequency.        b. What influences how quickly allelic frequency changes?  The initial allele frequency and the relative fitnesses of each genotype influence how quickly allelic frequency changes. 2. Population size influences the change in allelic frequency over generations. In some of the simulations the red lines went to zero. Why? Why didn't this always happen? If the red line went to zero that meant the red allele frequency is zero. This can occur when there are pressure