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Mollusks Example:
A proportion of a population of mollusks got separated from the remainder of the population of mollusks due to a sudden drop in sea level. The separated portion of mollusks started to under shell change rapidly because of their small population size and isolated environment. When the sea levels rose, the two mollusks populations merged together again. The large unstable population of mollusks now under go the shell change that the separated population of mollusks went through because they were able to out-compete the original population.
Lifespan
The shorter the life span of a species, the quicker the evolutionary change will be, therefore the longer the life span of a species, the shower the evolution change will be. This is due to the reproduction time because typically when there is a shorter lifespan, the reproduction time is also shorter, which means that generations come faster and traits can overcome a species faster.
Example: Mollusks
The life span of mollusks vary greatly. Mollusks with shorter lifespans mate and reproduce at faster rates, so the shell change goes through the population faster.
Population Size
The larger the population of a species is the slower the change is, therefore, the smaller the population size, the quicker the change. This is can be explained because as the population increases in size, the more mating that has to be done for more offspring to have the have the evolutionary change.
Example: Mollusks
The small separated population of mollusks was able to evolve much quicker than the combined bigger population because of their smaller population size.
Physical and Biological Change in Environment
If there is a change in the environment, it can help aid the rate of evolution because it can drastically make a certain trait more favored than another, and eliminate the portion of the population that has the unfavored trait.
Example: Mollusks
The change in the environment of the separated population of mollusks sparked the evolutionary change, and when they merged back together with the remainder of the population, the change continued to happen because it was beneficiary.
Mutation Rate
The higher the mutation rate the quicker the change. This can be explained because if the mutation can occur quicker or it more likely to occur, then the less time it would take for the evolution change to go through the species population.
Example: Mollusks
Genetically, the shell change was favored, so the overall large population also started to develop the shell change, and it was able to go through the population quicker than it would have if the shell change was not favored.
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