Toward Hierarchy: Trends and Tensions in Evolutionary Theory

1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niles Eldredge
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Allelic Variation ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Genetic Change ◽  
Statics And Dynamics ◽  
Additional Process ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
Effective Integration

Is the synthesis a complete and satisfactory evolutionary theory? It would be a trivial and derogatory exercise indeed to depict the synthesis in utterly simplistic terms and then turn around and conclude that it is incomplete and unsatisfactory. Though I have subjected the synthesis to a series of purifying distillations through the course of this book so far, I have in mind by no means solely Mayr’s (1980, p. 1) two-sentence summary of the synthesis as I pose the question of just how complete, workable, and satisfactory a theory of the evolutionary process it is. No serious student of evolutionary theory could ever claim that the modem synthesis is “just population genetics.” Many more phenomena are included than the statics and dynamics of genetic change in populations. What does seem to be true of the synthesis in general is that it focuses its concerns on a certain range of biological entities and attendant processes, and espouses attitudes and ontological positions on others that appear (to me) to exclude the latter from effective integration into the theory per se. Specifically, the synthesis focuses on genes; their replication, recombination, and mutation; and the fate of allelic variation within populations. But species—certainly not the sole province of population genetics—are very much a part of the synthesis, if equivocally so. If it is true that most evolutionary phenomena considered by the synthesis are construed, at least in principle, to be explicable in terms of the dynamics of selection and drift of allelic variation in populations, it is not because other sorts of phenomena, such as macroevolutionary trends, are alleged not to exist. The synthesis takes the (on the whole commendable) attitude of the Missourian who must be shown. We have a highly corroborated theory of the origin, maintenance, and modification of adaptations—through pure, narrowly defined natural selection. The burden of demonstration lies on anyone who would maintain either that some other process builds such (organismic) adaptation or that an additional process (or more than one) is also at work in evolution. Certainly the entire discussion on levels of selection, a discussion to which I return in this chapter, is structured in this general sort of way.

New Developments in Evolutionary Innovation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Gino Cattani ◽  
Mariano Mastrogiorgio
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Punctuated Equilibrium ◽  
Darwinian Evolution ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Evolutionary Innovation ◽  
Equilibrium Speciation

The publication of ‘An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change’ by Nelson and Winter has had a major impact on economics and related fields such as innovation and strategy. All of these fields have developed owing to recent re-examinations and extensions of evolutionary theory. A paradigm that underlies several studies in this tradition is the concept of neo-Darwinian evolution—the idea that the unit of the evolutionary process (e.g. a technological artefact) is subject to a dynamic of variation, selection, and retention leading to adaptation to a predefined function. This book refers to the frameworks of punctuated equilibrium, speciation, and exaptation, which, despite their significant influence in evolutionary biology, have been reflected only partially in evolutionary approaches to economics, innovation, and strategy. This chapter introduces the book’s aim to fill this gap, and outlines the approaches and perspectives of each of the chapters.

A Research for Evolutionary Process Based on TRIZ Evolution Theory

2010 ◽  
Vol 20-23 ◽  
pp. 1328-1335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shao Bo Li ◽  
Jian Hui Mou
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Process Approach ◽  
Evolution Theory ◽  
Prediction Theory ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Depth Study ◽  
Product Technology

Technology Evolutionary Process have own rule and model,it can be forcasted. How to predict the future technological development and quickly develop next-generation products has become a powerful weapon of market competition. TRIZ EvolutionTheory is one of the most advantages and vitality in almost product technology prediction theory. This article summarized the evolution mode and evolution route based on in-depth study of TRIZ evolution theory ,and researched correlation.At last this article introduced how to use the basic principles of evolutionary theory to solve practical problems of the process approach. And to farming with the plow as an example a typical product design, to have been verified.

scholarly journals Retroposed New Genes Out of the X in Drosophila

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1854-1859
Author(s):  
Esther Betrán ◽  
Kevin Thornton ◽  
Manyuan Long
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Significant Excess ◽  
Link Type ◽  
New Genes ◽  
Asymmetric Pattern ◽  
Unpublished Information

New genes that originated by various molecular mechanisms are an essential component in understanding the evolution of genetic systems. We investigated the pattern of origin of the genes created by retroposition in Drosophila. We surveyed the wholeDrosophila melanogaster genome for such new retrogenes and experimentally analyzed their functionality and evolutionary process. These retrogenes, functional as revealed by the analysis of expression, substitution, and population genetics, show a surprisingly asymmetric pattern in their origin. There is a significant excess of retrogenes that originate from the X chromosome and retropose to autosomes; new genes retroposed from autosomes are scarce. Further, we found that most of these X-derived autosomal retrogenes had evolved a testis expression pattern. These observations may be explained by natural selection favoring those new retrogenes that moved to autosomes and avoided the spermatogenesis X inactivation, and suggest the important role of genome position for the origin of new genes.[The sequence data from this study have been submitted to GenBank under accession nos. AY150701–AY150797. The following individuals kindly provided reagents, samples, or unpublished information as indicated in the paper: M.-L. Wu, F. Lemeunier, and P. Gibert.]

Islamic Theological Views on Darwinian Evolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidhal Guessoum
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Darwinian Evolution ◽  
Theory Of Evolution ◽  
Human Exceptionalism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Problem Of Evil ◽  
History Of ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Biological Entities ◽  
Muslim Scholars

The various positions that Muslim scholars have adopted vis-à-vis Darwin’s theory of evolution since its inception in 1859 are here reviewed with an eye on the theological arguments that are embraced, whether explicitly or implicitly. A large spectrum of views and arguments are thus found, ranging from total rejection to total acceptance, including “human exceptionalism” (evolution is applicable to all organisms and animals but not to humans). The two main theological arguments that are thus extracted from Muslim scholars’ discussions of evolution are: 1) Is God excluded by the evolutionary paradigm or does the term “Creator” acquire a new definition? 2) Does Adam still exist in the human evolution scenario, and how to include his Qur’anic story in the scientific scenario? Additional, but less crucial issues are sometimes raised in Islamic discussions of evolution: a) Does the extinction of innumerable species during the history of life on earth conflict with the traditional view of God’s creation? b) Is theodicy (“the problem of evil”) exacerbated or explained by evolution? c) Are “species” well-defined and important biological entities in the Islamic worldview? d) Can the randomness that seems inherent in the evolutionary process be reconciled with a divine creation plan? These questions are here reviewed through the writings and arguments of Muslim scholars, and general conclusions are drawn about why rejectionists find it impossible to address those issues in a manner that is consistent with their religious principles and methods, and why more progressive, less literalistic scholars are able to fold those issues within a less rigid conception of God and the world.

Epistasis and Evolution

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Adaptive Landscape ◽  
Genomic Complexity ◽  
Evolutionary Thought ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Main Effects ◽  
The Relationship

The concept of epistasis was introduced into evolutionary theory more than a hundred years ago. Its history is marked by controversies regarding its importance for the evolutionary process, as exemplified by the debate between Ronald Fisher and Sewall Wright in the wake of the modern synthesis. In this case the disagreement was about the shape of the adaptive landscape, which is determined by epistasis. Wright believed that epistasis causes the adaptive landscape to be rugged with many local peaks, whereas Fisher viewed evolution as a smooth, steady progression toward a unique optimum. Even today, the different meanings attributed to epistasis continue to spawn confusion. Nevertheless, a consensus is emerging, according to which the term should be used to designate interactions between genetic effects on phenotypes in the broadest sense. Stated differently, in the presence of epistasis the phenotypic effects of a gene depend on its genetic context. In evolutionary theory the phenotype of primary interest is organismal fitness, but principally the concept applies to any genotype-phenotype map. Reflecting the Fisherian view, throughout the 20th century epistasis was often considered to be a residual perturbation on the main effects of individual genes. Following the advent of sequencing techniques providing insights into the molecular basis of genotype-phenotype maps, over the past two decades it has become clear, however, that epistasis is the rule rather than an exception. This has motivated a large number of empirical studies exploring the patterns and evolutionary consequences of epistasis across a wide range of scales of organismal and genomic complexity. Correspondingly, mathematical and computational tools have been developed for the analysis of experimental data, and models have been constructed to elucidate the mechanistic and statistical origins of genetic interactions. Despite a certain inherent vagueness, the concept takes center stage in modern evolutionary thought as a framework for organizing the accumulating understanding of the relationship among genotype, phenotype, and organism.

scholarly journals Cultural evolutionary theory: How culture evolves and why it matters

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (30) ◽  
pp. 7782-7789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Creanza ◽  
Oren Kolodny ◽  
Marcus W. Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Population Genetics ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Genetic Evolution ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Theoretical Population ◽  
Cultural Evolutionary

Human cultural traits—behaviors, ideas, and technologies that can be learned from other individuals—can exhibit complex patterns of transmission and evolution, and researchers have developed theoretical models, both verbal and mathematical, to facilitate our understanding of these patterns. Many of the first quantitative models of cultural evolution were modified from existing concepts in theoretical population genetics because cultural evolution has many parallels with, as well as clear differences from, genetic evolution. Furthermore, cultural and genetic evolution can interact with one another and influence both transmission and selection. This interaction requires theoretical treatments of gene–culture coevolution and dual inheritance, in addition to purely cultural evolution. In addition, cultural evolutionary theory is a natural component of studies in demography, human ecology, and many other disciplines. Here, we review the core concepts in cultural evolutionary theory as they pertain to the extension of biology through culture, focusing on cultural evolutionary applications in population genetics, ecology, and demography. For each of these disciplines, we review the theoretical literature and highlight relevant empirical studies. We also discuss the societal implications of the study of cultural evolution and of the interactions of humans with one another and with their environment.

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