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Mechanisms of Evolution

12 November, 2015 - 09:57

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Describe the four basic causes of evolution: natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, and gene flow
  • Explain how each evolutionary force can influence the allele frequencies of a population

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium principle says that allele frequencies in a population will remain constant in the absence of the four factors that could change them. Those factors are natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, and migration (gene flow). In fact, we know they are probably always affecting populations.