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In: Biology

What does it mean that natural selection "grades on a curve"?

What does it mean that natural selection "grades on a curve"?

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Expert Solution

Natural selection can take many forms , to make talking about this easier, we will consider the distribution of traits across a population in graphical form In we see the normal bell curve of traits distribution. For example, if we were talking about height as a traits, we would see that without any selection pressure on this traits the height of individuals in a population would vary, with most individual being of an average height and fewer being extremely short or extremely tall. However when selection pressure act on a traits, this distribution can be altered.


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