It is possible that some of the students might have been distracted while choosing as a correct alternative that the long neck of giraffes has evolved through the higher fitness of individuals displaying such trait, without noticing that, actually, this question dealt with Lamarck's explanation and not Darwin's.
Genomic selection has been proposed for the prediction of such complex traits that are controlled by multiple gene loci with small effects [ 17].
In such instances, traits that were repeatedly acquired during evolution offer an outstanding study system (Zakon et al. 2006; Arnegard et al. 2010; Christin, Weinreich et al. 2010).
Body size of animal species is such a life history trait that has numerous ecological consequences [ 9].
Under such conditions, a behavioural trait that is beneficial in one context (e.g. aggression in resource competition) may carry over into another context, where it can be detrimental (e.g. aggression during courtship) [ 6].
It seems likely that the high dispersal abilities, and adaptability to a wide habitat range, has led to the lack of observable differentiation in the red fox, and it is possible that such traits mean that this species may respond well to future climatic changes.
In each scenario, we assume that the target population is the same as the testing population and examine how well different models generalize for different target populations and what are the characteristics of the trait that make such generalization possible.
By genome-wide linkage mapping of an (AIRmax x AIRmin F2 intercross population, we found that such trait is regulated by germline genetic variations in a locus in the proximal region of chromosome 17.
The hierarchical structure of GRNs provides a mechanistic explanation for the evolutionary patterns we observe at the organismal level, such as some traits that are highly conserved (body plan characters) and some traits that vary greatly among organisms.
