AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Genetic drift affects the genetic makeup of the population, but unlike natural selection, through an entirely random process. So although genetic drift is a mechanism of evolution, it doesn’t work to produce adaptations.

Detailed explanation-2: -Unlike natural selection, genetic drift does not depend on an allele’s beneficial or harmful effects. Instead, drift changes allele frequencies purely by chance, as random subsets of individuals (and the gametes of those individuals) are sampled to produce the next generation.

Detailed explanation-3: -There are four principles at work in evolution-variation, inheritance, selection and time. These are considered the components of the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection.

Detailed explanation-4: -Natural selection itself does not create new traits; it only changes the proportion of variation that is already present in the population. The repeated two-step interaction of these processes is what leads to the evolution of novel adaptive features.