Final answer:
The incorrect statement is 'Reduction in weight of the organism due to starvation is genetically controlled.' This is false because weight changes due to environmental factors are not genetic changes inheritable by offspring.
Step-by-step explanation:
Select the incorrect statement from those given. The following statements involve concepts from population genetics and evolution. Let us examine these statements:
- Frequency of certain genes in a population change over several generations resulting in evolution
- Reduction in weight of the organism due to starvation is genetically controlled
- Low weight parents can have heavyweight progeny
- Traits which are not inherited over generations do not cause evolution
The incorrect statement among these is: 'Reduction in weight of the organism due to starvation is genetically controlled.' This statement is incorrect because weight loss due to starvation is an environmental effect, not a genetic change. Genetically controlled traits are those that can be passed down from parents to offspring.
Natural selection, genetic drift, and mutations contribute to changes in a population's allele frequencies—the sum of all the alleles among individuals in the population. Evolution occurs when these allele frequencies shift over time, resulting in a change in the genetic makeup of the population.
For instance, if a trait confers a survival advantage, it may become more common through the process of natural selection. However, a trait like weight loss due to starvation is not an inherited trait and therefore cannot contribute to evolutionary change. Meanwhile, high or low weight parents having offspring with a differing weight can be influenced by both genetics and the environment.