scholarly journals Drift and Evolutionary Forces

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Luque
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Drift ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Causal Structure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Newtonian Mechanics ◽  
Evolutionary Forces

This article analyzes the view of evolutionary theory as a theory of forces. The analogy with Newtonian mechanics has been challenged due to the mismatch between drift and the other evolutionary forces. Genetic drift and its lack of direction has done that several authors tried to minimize or to protect its status as a force. I argue that the attempts to maintain drift as a force, in a strong manner, are not fully successful. I also show how historical and theoretical reasons explain why the Newtonian analogy arose, insofar as it is helpful in revealing the causal structure of evolutionary theory.

The Causal Structure of Natural Selection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Pence
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Genetic Drift ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Causal Structure ◽  
Philosophy Of Biology ◽  
Philosophy Of Physics ◽  
Potential Value ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Evolutionary Explanations

Recent arguments concerning the nature of causation in evolutionary theory, now often known as the debate between the 'causalist' and 'statisticalist' positions, have involved answers to a variety of independent questions – definitions of key evolutionary concepts like natural selection, fitness, and genetic drift; causation in multi-level systems; or the nature of evolutionary explanations, among others. This Element offers a way to disentangle one set of these questions surrounding the causal structure of natural selection. Doing so allows us to clearly reconstruct the approach that some of these major competing interpretations of evolutionary theory have to this causal structure, highlighting particular features of philosophical interest within each. Further, those features concern problems not exclusive to the philosophy of biology. Connections between them and, in two case studies, contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of physics demonstrate the potential value of broader collaboration in the understanding of evolution.

The Continuum of Conscientiousness: The Antagonistic Interests among Obsessive and Antisocial Personalities

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Hertler
Keyword(s):  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Antisocial Personality Disorder ◽  
The Other ◽  
Antisocial Personality ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Demographic Differences ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Continuum

Abstract The five factor trait of conscientiousnessis a supertrait, denoting on one hand a pattern of excessive labor, rigidity, orderliness and compulsivity,and on the other hand a pattern of strict rectitude, scrupulosity, dutifulness and morality. In both respects the obsessive-compulsive personality is conscientious; indeed, it has been labeled a disorder of extreme conscientiousness (Widiger et al., 2009). Antisocial personality disorder, in the present paper, is described as occupying the opposite end of the conscientiousness continuum. The antisocial is impulsive rather than compulsive, illicit rather than licit, and furtive rather than forthright.After clinically comparing the obsessive and antisocial personalities, the present paper invokes evolutionary theory to explain their resultant behavioral, ideological, political and demographic differences.

scholarly journals Wolbachia -induced meiotic drive and feminization is associated with an independent occurrence of selective mitochondrial sweep in a butterfly

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 20170153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai Miyata ◽  
Tatsuro Konagaya ◽  
Kenji Yukuhiro ◽  
Masashi Nomura ◽  
Daisuke Kageyama
Keyword(s):  
Selective Sweep ◽  
Cytoplasmic Incompatibility ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Sequence Polymorphism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Eurema Hecabe ◽  
Hybrid Introgression

Maternally inherited Wolbachia endosymbionts manipulate arthropod reproduction in various ways. In the butterfly Eurema mandarina , a cytoplasmic incompatibility-inducing Wolbachia strain w CI and the associated mtDNA haplotypes are known to originate from the sister species Eurema hecabe , which offered a good case study for microbe-mediated hybrid introgression. Besides w CI, some females with the Z0 karyotype harbour a distinct Wolbachia strain w Fem, which causes all-female production by meiotic drive and feminization. We report that a considerable proportion of E. mandarina females (65.7%) were infected with both w CI and w Fem (CF) on Tanegashima Island. While females singly infected with w CI (C) produced offspring at a 1 : 1 sex ratio, CF females produced only females. Although Z-linked sequence polymorphism showed no signs of divergence between C and CF females, mtDNA split into two discrete clades; one consisted of C females and the other CF females, both of which formed a clade with E. hecabe but not with uninfected E. mandarina . This suggests that CF matrilines also, but independently, experienced a selective sweep after hybrid introgression from E. hecabe . Distinct evolutionary forces were suggested to have caused C and CF matrilines to diverge, which would be irreversible because of the particular phenotype of w Fem.

scholarly journals Evolution of gene regulatory networks by means of selection and random genetic drift

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonios Kioukis ◽  
Pavlos Pavlidis
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Positive Selection ◽  
Genetic Drift ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Random Genetic Drift ◽  
Maturation Period ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Gene Regulatory

The evolution of a population by means of genetic drift and natural selection operating on a gene regulatory network (GRN) of an individual has not been scrutinized in depth. Thus, the relative importance of various evolutionary forces and processes on shaping genetic variability in GRNs is understudied. Furthermore, it is not known if existing tools that identify recent and strong positive selection from genomic sequences, in simple models of evolution, can detect recent positive selection when it operates on GRNs. Here, we propose a simulation framework, called EvoNET, that simulates forward-in-time the evolution of GRNs in a population. Since the population size is finite, random genetic drift is explicitly applied. The fitness of a mutation is not constant, but we evaluate the fitness of each individual by measuring its genetic distance from an optimal genotype. Mutations and recombination may take place from generation to generation, modifying the genotypic composition of the population. Each individual goes through a maturation period, where its GRN reaches equilibrium. At the next step, individuals compete to produce the next generation. As time progresses, the beneficial genotypes push the population higher in the fitness landscape. We examine properties of the GRN evolution such as robustness against the deleterious effect of mutations and the role of genetic drift. We confirm classical results from Andreas Wagner’s work that GRNs show robustness against mutations and we provide new results regarding the interplay between random genetic drift and natural selection.

Philosophy or Auto-Anthropology?

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Dennett ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Computer Modeling ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
The Other ◽  
Theoretical Physics ◽  
Experimental Physics ◽  
Timothy Williamson ◽  
Working Out ◽  
Armchair Philosophy

Timothy Williamson is mainly right, I think. He defends armchair philosophy as a variety of armchair science, like mathematics, or computer modeling in evolutionary theory, economics, statistics, and I agree that this is precisely what philosophy is, at its best: working out the assumptions and implications of any serious body of thought, helping everyone formulate the best questions to ask, and then leaving the empirical work to the other sciences. Philosophy – at its best – is to other inquiries roughly as theoretical physics is to experimental physics. You can do it in the armchair, but you need to know a lot about the phenomena with which the inquiry deals.

Testing and Evolutionary Theory

1963 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-162
Author(s):  
Morris Opler
Keyword(s):  
Social Organization ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
The Other ◽  
Technological Means

Not long ago Betty Meggers undertook to demonstrate, on the basis of Apache data, … that all cultures are composed of three general classes of phenomena: technology, social organization, and philosophy. Of these, technology is primary and determines the content and form of the other two components . . . The content of any particular culture depends on the amount of energy that can be controlled and the efficiency of the technological means of putting this energy to use.

Investors and Exploiters in Ecology and Economics

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Natural World ◽  
The Other ◽  
Independent Research ◽  
Research Traditions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
Cancerous Cells

In the natural world, some agents (investors) employ strategies that provide resources, services, or information while others (exploiters) achieve gain through these efforts. Such behavior coexists and is observable in many species at many levels: from bacteria which depend on the existence of biofilms to synthesize constituent proteins; to cancerous cells which employ angiogenesis in tumors; to parents who forego vaccinating their children yet benefit from herd immunity; to countries’ actions in the handling of greenhouse gases. To analyze such behavior, two independent research traditions have developed in parallel—one couched in evolutionary theory championed by behavioral ecologists, the other in the social sciences advocated by economists. This book looks for commonalities in understanding and approach, in an effort to spur research into this widespread phenomenon.

Evolution of Impatience: The Example of the Farmer-Sheriff Game

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-317
Author(s):  
David K. Levine ◽  
Salvatore Modica ◽  
Federico Weinschelbaum ◽  
Felipe Zurita
Keyword(s):  
Opposite Direction ◽  
The Other ◽  
Decision Problems ◽  
Evolutionary Forces ◽  
Evolutionary Advantage

The literature on the evolution of impatience, focusing on one-person decision problems, often finds that evolutionary forces favor the more patient individuals. This paper shows that in games where equilibrium involves threat of punishment there are forces generating an evolutionary advantage to the impatient. In particular, it offers a two-population example where evolutionary forces favor impatience in one group while favoring patience in the other. Moreover, efficiency may also favor impatient individuals. In our example, it is efficient for one population to evolve impatience and for the other to develop patience. Yet, evolutionary forces move the opposite direction. (JEL C73, C78)

scholarly journals Taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide found in South Sinai Bedouin tribes

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Anna Chumakova ◽  
Leonid Kalichman ◽  
Eugene Kobyliansky
Keyword(s):  
Allele Frequency ◽  
Genetic Drift ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
The Other ◽  
Taste Sensitivity ◽  
Healthy Male ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
South Sinai ◽  
Very High ◽  
Jewish Populations

The aim of this work was to study taste sensitivity to phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) amongst Bedouin tribes and compare the Bedouins with Arab and Jewish populations. Data obtained by the classic method of serial dilutions in 317 healthy male Bedouins, aged 16–70 belonging to different tribes, were examined. We discovered significant differ­ences in chemosensitivity to PTC in the Bedouin communities. A high frequency of the t allele was documented in the Bedouin tribes of Hamada, Muzeina, and “other Bedouins” and a relatively low level of the t allele frequency in the Gebelia tribe. The frequencies of non-tasters amongst Arab groups were similar in values to those of the Gebelia tribe. Three other Bedouin tribes showed very high values for the non-tasters’ frequencies. The revealed intertribal differ­ences can be explained by the genetic drift in isolated populations, on the other hand, this may be the result of endog­amy.

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