Effect of Natural Selection on Phenotypes

Effect of Natural Selection on Phenotypes

Have you ever wondered why some animals have spots, stripes, or specific colors? These visible traits, called phenotypes, are shaped by natural selection. A phenotype is how an organism's genes appear on the outside, like fur color, beak shape, or body s...

Natural selection does not directly act on genes. Instead, it acts on phenotypes, the physical traits an organism shows.

Imagine two rabbits in the snow: one white, one brown. A fox can easily spot the brown rabbit over the white. As a result, more white rabbits survive and reproduce, passing on their genes.

Some genotypes, like homo...