In an heterogeneous environment, extremes of the population have the highest fitness while intermediates do least well.
Selection against the middle range of variation causing an increase in the frequency of a trait showing the extreme ranges of its variation. Disruptive selection might cause one species to evolve into two.
process by which more than one trait of a population is selected, possibly leading to two different species.
A process of natural selection that favors individuals at both extremes of a phenotypic range. PICTURE
Natural selection where subpopulations of a single species within the same habitat exhibit different adaptations. Occurs when a habitat contains distinctly different types of soil conditions or other factors. Developing subpopulations adapt to particular features of the area. Results in evolutionary changes and new species, after which the subpopulations enter into stabilizing selection.
the selection of divergent phenotypic extremes in a population until, after several generations of selection, two discontinuous strains are obtained
Selection in favour of two or more modal phenotypes and against those intermediate between them. Also called diversifying selection.
Disruptive selection is a type of natural selection that simultaneously favors individuals at both extremes of the distribution. When disruptive selection operates, individuals at the extremes contribute more offspring than those in the center, producing two peaks in the distribution of a particular trait.