Stabilizing Selection | Definition, Causes & Exammples

By | October 31, 2019

Stabilizing Selection

Stabilizing Selection Definition:

The stabilizing selection is defined as the selective force or more forces that push the population toward the average or the median trait. The stabilizing selection is the descriptive term used for what happened to the trait of an individual when extremes of traits are selected against. This fact increases the trait frequency within the population and alleles and genes that help to inform it.

Stabilizing Selection

Common Cause of Stabilizing Selection:

The stabilizing selections along with the directional selection and disruptive selection involves the direction of individual traits. The stabilizing selections push the traits toward the average in the place of one or both extremes, driven by any kind of selection. Some most common forms of stabilizing selections are from predation, resource allocation, and coloration of environment, food type and a wide variety of many other forces.

In stabilizing selections, increment in median traits represents their increase in success. Many other extreme traits are successfully done, the possible cause is that their owners to die. This fact increases the resources which are available to medial animals, further boosting their success. In this way, stabilizing selections are caused by many traits which are an entire group of animals share, known as Synapomophies.

Stabilizing Selection Examples:

Some examples of stabilizing selection are given below:

  • Robin Eggs:

In the case of the number of robin eggs, these are selected with the help of stabilizing selection. Probably, robins are apparently not able to raise more than 4 chicks successfully. By the comparison between different species, most penguins can raise only one chick at a time, because of the size of chick and the amount of food required for it. Both are a form of stabilizing selections that maximize the fitness of species in their environment, while they both stabilize on different numbers.

  • Hypothetical Lemurs:

On Crazy Island, there is a population of multicolored lemurs. This specific lemurs population studied by scientists and they have noticed the same changes in the color of lemur. In some cases of lemurs, it can be darker and lighter lemurs both are easier to spot by predators. If lemurs have just one predator, it is easy to hypothesis to test. It is many common species that have multiple selective pressures and each pressure lies on many traits in different ways.