Who Wants To Live A Million Years Questions

1.It took one generation for me to win the "who wants to live a million years" game. It only took one try for me to win the game because I guessed which traits would be the most helpful. This is similar to a real species because, when a species has traits that work well with their environment, they will benefit and live longer as a species.

2.The phenotypes I used the first time I played the game were long legs, fur, and the long neck. I chose these traits because they seemed like things the game would require for the creatures to live longer. I assumed that there would be a problem with the weather and food so I gave my creatures traits that would help them overcome these possible problems. It turned out that I was correct in my assumption and these were the traits that helped my creatures survive. As I stated earlier,  I believe that these were the things that helped them to reach the food, run from things that posed a possible threat toward my creatures, and to keep them warm in the winter.  

3.I think that this population would be greatly affected by genetic drift because it would either help the species to move forward and evolve or give them a weakness.

I saw the effects of genetic drift in my species when something would wipe out all but a couple of the creatures and then suddenly the new group would mostly have their traits.

4.The color allele seemed to be the dominant trait because when one of the creatures was red or green, over time all of the creatures seemed to change to that color. The recessive trait seemed to be the short neck because the species neck's grew longer after a while.

5.(a) cold conditions; fur

  (b) hot conditions; less fur

  (c) new large predator on the scene; stripes, long legs

  (d) new tall food source; long neck

6. To improve this simulation I would have more problems for the species to encounter, more phenotype options, and increase the time.

 

Who Wants to Live a Million Years Questions

By Ryan Keeney

                1. It only took me one try to create a species that would survive for 1000000 years. It probably took this long because I got pretty lucky the first time. It would normally probably take several attempts to get the right mutations and conditions for them to survive that long.

                2. The first three initial phenotypes I chose were tall and green, short and furry, and short and striped. The starting initial combinations that helped the population were any combinations which contained a lot of diversity between phenotypes. They had a higher chance of adapting quickly to new situations.

                3. Genetic drift could create a new phenotype, which may help the species to adapt to changing conditions. It could also get rid of a phenotype completely which may or may not be beneficial. Evidence of genetic drift in the game include the sudden addition of a new phenotype that was not one of the initial three, or a certain phenotype suddenly disappearing. This was sometimes harmful, and sometimes beneficial.

                4.  Traits that were dominant over other traits included colors. If a red or green individual was included as one of the initial phenotypes, the color would quickly overtake the rest of the population. Things like fur or stripes often seemed to be more recessive, and would generally overtake the population only if there were 2 or more with those traits in the initial phenotypes.

                5.  Cold conditions favored furry creatures. Hot conditions favored creatures with no fur. New predators were less likely to kill creatures with longer legs or stripes, which either let them camouflage or run faster. A new tall food source favored creatures with either long legs or long necks who could reach it.

               6. I would improve this simulation to better mimic evolution by giving it a longer time span, adding more obstacles such as flooding. I would also add other species, which could be used to demonstrate coevolution, as well as competition. 

Evolution Question

1. I never survived for 1 million years.  All of the creatures died off from all the scenarios.  This correlates with Earth's species because a lot of  species die off through out history.
2. I chose the tall, furry, long necked ones and this survived the longest even though I didn't win.  They were the best suited for most situations just not all.
3. This population will be greatly affected because there is usually only one with the right phenotype and the population is so small.  When u add the mutation it usually dies before spreading its trait.
4. Tall, furry, tall, and dark were dominant traits while striped, fat, naked ones were rarely seen.
5. A, fat,small,furry. B, thin,bare,long neck, long legs. C, long legs, stripes. D, long legs.
6. More variety in mutation and the red and green colors should affect the creatures.  Larger variety of natural disasters and different types of predators.  Different food sources.

Who Wants to Live a Million Years: Analysis of Natural Selection Simulation

1. It took me 7 generations  to finally survive a million years. It took me this long because I had to start off by choosing a variety of birds, While going along I had to make the strategic choice and mutate my original species. For Earths species I believe it will take a long period of time for a certain species to adapt to a new environment. They may not automatically survive at first but through the years they will adapt to the right conditions.
2. My initial phenotypes combinations where tall, short and hairy, and short with stripes. The short with stripes seemed to survive the longest. I think this happened because when their smallness helped them hide in smaller areas, as well as move faster along the ground.
3. Yes I do believe genetic drift can affectedly change a species population, because generally there is a specific phenotype that can survive in the environment.
4. Furry stripped ones mostly survived whereas the tall naked ones were rarely seen.
5. A.short,furry,fat and stripped B.Tall, Long necks and legs, no hair C.Stripped long legged ones D.Long leg and necks
6. I think have a more vast of variety. Being able to chose from more mutations. Including colors,lengths and deficiencies.