UC Berkeley
Image Caption
Imagine that green beetles are easier for birds to spot (and hence, eat). Brown beetles are a little more likely to survive to produce offspring. They pass their genes for brown coloration on to their offspring. So in the next generation, brown beetles are more common than in the previous generation.
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This image is part of a series:
Mechanisms of evolution (1 of 4) Mutation
A mutation could cause parents with genes for bright green coloration to have offspring with a gene for brown coloration. That would make the genes for brown beetles more frequent…
Mechanisms of evolution (2 of 4) Migration
Some individuals from a population of brown beetles might have joined a population of green beetles. That would make the genes for brown beetles more frequent in the green beetle…