Improving one trait often costs another, constraining which adaptations can evolve.
Resources are finite, so investing in one trait reduces another: growth versus reproduction, offspring number versus size, immunity versus fertility. Antagonistic pleiotropy means a gene benefits early life but harms later.
Trade-offs explain why no organism excels in everything.
Improving one trait often costs another, constraining which adaptations can evolve.
Evolutionary Trade-offs is one of the 53 topics in Evolution. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Adaptation, Evolution of Sex, Red Queen Hypothesis.
Bacteria resistant to antibiotics often grow slightly slower without drugs.
Work through the Beginner topics in Evolution first, such as Evolution, Natural Selection, Charles Darwin, then return to Evolutionary Trade-offs. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Evolutionary Trade-offs are Adaptation, Evolution of Sex, Red Queen Hypothesis, Coevolution. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Evolutionary Trade-offs. To practise the whole of Evolution, use the Evolution quiz.
Evolutionary Trade-offs: Improving one trait often costs another, constraining which adaptations can evolve. Adaptation: A heritable trait that improves an organism's survival and reproduction in its environment. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Adaptation and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Evolution quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
A heritable trait that improves an organism's survival and reproduction in its environment.
🦎 EvolutionHypotheses explain why sexual reproduction persists despite its costs, including the Red Queen and mutation clearance.
🦎 EvolutionSpecies must constantly evolve just to keep pace with coevolving enemies such as parasites.
🦎 EvolutionReciprocal evolutionary change in interacting species, such as flowers and their pollinators.
🦎 Evolution