Balancing selection
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Balancing selection refers to a number of selective processes by which multiple alleles are actively maintained in the gene pool of a population at frequencies larger than expected from genetic drift
Grove snail, dark yellow shell with single band
Two active grove snails
Drosophila polytene chromosome
Polymorphism (biology)
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In biology, polymorphism is the occurrence of two or more clearly different morphs or forms, also referred to as alternative phenotypes, in the population of a species. To be classified as such, morph
Balancing selection
…various mechanisms, in particular, when the heterozygotes for the alleles under consideration have a higher fitness than the homozygote. In this way genetic polymorphism is conserved. Evidence for balancing selection can be found in the number of alleles in a population which are maintained above mutation rate frequencies…
Light-morph jaguar
Dark-morph or melanistic jaguar (about 6% of the South American population)
The white morph of the monarch in Hawaii is partly a result of apostatic selection.
Darwin's finches by Gould