Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2025
04:52
Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
Published on: February 3, 2023
1.1K
HISTORICAL VERSUS SELECTIONIST EXPLANATIONS IN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY.
1Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138.
Cladistics : the International Journal of the Willi Hennig Society
|December 24, 2021
Summary
Evolutionary biology needs broader explanations beyond natural selection. Incorporating organismal responses and environmental construction offers a more complete historical perspective for evolutionary change.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Historical Biology
Background:
- Current evolutionary explanations are limited by the processes studied.
- Phylogenetic analysis is effective for adaptation and natural selection but has limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To expand historical explanations in evolutionary biology.
- To incorporate organismal agency and environmental construction into evolutionary theory.
Main Methods:
- Phylogenetic analysis to test adaptation and natural selection.
- Examination of structural hypotheses for character evolution.
- Re-evaluation of Lamarckian concepts.
Main Results:
- Selectionist explanations exclude the origin of characters via flexibility.
- Phylogenetic analysis of structural hypotheses includes character origins but views organisms as passive.
- Active organismal responses and environment construction are crucial for a complete historical biology.
Conclusions:
- Evolutionary biology requires a broader scope beyond selectionism.
- Revisiting Lamarckian ideas on the evolutionary significance of acquired characteristics is necessary.
- Organisms actively shape their evolutionary trajectory through responses and environment construction.
Related Concept Videos
01:46Types of Selection
42.4K
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
42.4K
01:23Criticisms of the Evolutionary Perspective
178
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...
Evolutionary psychology provides one explanation for these findings, suggesting...
178
01:06Natural Selection and Mating Preferences
198
The principle of natural selection posits that organisms better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. This principle is closely intertwined with mating preferences, a key aspect of sexual selection, which evolutionary psychologists believe is driven by instincts to propagate one's genes. Such instincts significantly influence mating behaviors and preferences between genders.
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
Females, due to their biological roles in conception, pregnancy, and nursing,...
198
01:20Evolutionary Psychology
511
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...
511
01:32What is Natural Selection?
120.4K
Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.
120.4K
01:38Limits to Natural Selection
32.8K
Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
32.8K