Disruptive selection is one of three main forms of natural selection. In disruptive selection, extremes of visible characteristics or traits (phenotypes) enjoy a greater reproductive success than do intermediate characteristics or traits. Because it is a form of natural selection, disruptive selection is based upon differences in success in reproduction (differential reproduction,) that favor organisms within a population that carry more advantageous genes (favored in the sense that those individuals carrying the genes are able to survive and produce a greater number of progeny than other members of the population).

The other main mechanisms of natural selection include directional selection (selection that favors one extreme phenotype with regard to fitness), and stabilizing selection (selection that favors intermediate characters or traits).

By definition, disruptive selection occurs when two or more phenotypes with a population enjoy greater reproductive success than an intermediate phenotype. In a species of African...