Natural selection that favors individuals at both extremes of a trait distribution while selecting against intermediate forms. It increases genetic variation and can lead to population splitting.
From Latin 'disrumpere' meaning 'to break apart' and 'selectio' meaning 'choice'. The term emerged in evolutionary biology in the 1960s to describe selection patterns that break populations apart rather than unifying them around a single optimum.
Disruptive selection is evolution's way of saying 'pick a side!' - like how some bird species have evolved either very large beaks for cracking big seeds or very small beaks for tiny seeds, with medium beaks being inefficient at both tasks. It's the evolutionary force behind many cases of speciation.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.