Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

What is Evolutionary History?02:35

What is Evolutionary History?

43.0K
Scientists record evolutionary history by analyzing fossil, morphological, and genetic data. The fossil record documents the history of life on Earth and provides evidence for evolution. However, both fossil and living organisms offer evidence that outlines Earth’s evolutionary history.
43.0K
Heritability01:06

Heritability

623
Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic"...
623
Evolutionary Psychology01:20

Evolutionary Psychology

973
Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the...
973
Phase Transitions02:31

Phase Transitions

22.8K
Whether solid, liquid, or gas, a substance's state depends on the order and arrangement of its particles (atoms, molecules, or ions). Particles in the solid pack closely together, generally in a pattern. The particles vibrate about their fixed positions but do not move or squeeze past their neighbors. In liquids, although the particles are closely spaced, they are randomly arranged. The position of the particles are not fixed—that is, they are free to move past their neighbors to...
22.8K
Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective01:23

Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective

348
In a study where individuals posing as strangers offered compliments and proposed casual sex to students, the responses differed significantly based on gender. Not a single woman accepted the proposal, while 70% of the men agreed. This outcome provides a useful scenario to explore through the lens of evolutionary psychology and social learning theory, highlighting the diverse perspectives on human sexual behaviors.
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
348
Properties of Transition Metals02:58

Properties of Transition Metals

29.7K
Transition metals are defined as those elements that have partially filled d orbitals. As shown in Figure 1, the d-block elements in groups 3–12 are transition elements. The f-block elements, also called inner transition metals (the lanthanides and actinides), also meet this criterion because the d orbital is partially occupied before the f orbitals.
29.7K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Why there are so many definitions of fitness in models.

Genetics·2026
Same author

Individuality Through Ecology: Rethinking the Evolution of Complex Life From an Externalist Perspective.

Ecology and evolution·2024
Same author

Context Matters: A Response to Autzen and Okasha's Reply to Takacs and Bourrat.

Biological theory·2024
Same author

Stability of ecologically scaffolded traits during evolutionary transitions in individuality.

Nature communications·2024
Same author

Evolvability: filling the explanatory gap between adaptedness and the long-term mathematical conception of fitness.

Biology & philosophy·2024
Same author

When local causes are more explanatorily useful.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2023

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Environmentally Induced Heritable Changes in Flax
08:10

Environmentally Induced Heritable Changes in Flax

Published on: January 26, 2011

10.6K

Evolutionary transitions in heritability and individuality.

Pierrick Bourrat1,2

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia. p.bourrat@gmail.com.

Theory in Biosciences = Theorie in Den Biowissenschaften
|May 9, 2019
PubMed
Summary

Population structure is key to evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs). This study models how particle and collective heritability interact, revealing population structure drives ETIs by stabilizing collective traits.

Keywords:
Evolutionary transitions in individualityHeritabilityIndividualityInteractionPopulation structure

More Related Videos

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
10:37

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Published on: August 27, 2013

36.5K
Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR
09:03

Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR

Published on: May 29, 2014

12.0K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Environmentally Induced Heritable Changes in Flax
08:10

Environmentally Induced Heritable Changes in Flax

Published on: January 26, 2011

10.6K
Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
10:37

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition

Published on: August 27, 2013

36.5K
Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR
09:03

Profiling Individual Human Embryonic Stem Cells by Quantitative RT-PCR

Published on: May 29, 2014

12.0K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Theoretical Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Evolutionary transitions in individuality (ETIs) literature primarily examines selection, neglecting inheritance.
  • Understanding particle-level and collective-level inheritance is crucial for ETIs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To model the relationship between particle-level and collective-level heritability in ETIs.
  • To investigate how population structure influences heritability and individuality.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a highly idealized model.
  • Analyzed collective-level traits as linear and nonlinear functions of particle-level traits.
  • Examined the impact of population structure on trait variance and heritability.

Main Results:

  • Collective heritability is a byproduct of particle heritability in linear trait models.
  • Population structure reduces offspring variance, a dimension of individuality.
  • Nonlinear collective traits show weak, context-dependent heritability, improved by population structure.
  • Population structure stabilizes collective traits, promoting ETIs.

Conclusions:

  • Population structure is a significant driver of ETIs.
  • The interplay between population structure and collective heritability is vital for understanding individuality.
  • This research highlights a previously underexplored aspect of ETIs.