Michael L. Arnold
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199539581
- eISBN:
- 9780191716225
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199539581.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
A goal shared by this chapter with all the other parts of this book is to emphasize the ubiquity of reticulate evolution as an agent of genetic and evolutionary change. Another goal, unique to the ...
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A goal shared by this chapter with all the other parts of this book is to emphasize the ubiquity of reticulate evolution as an agent of genetic and evolutionary change. Another goal, unique to the topic in this chapter, is to address the hypothesis that genetic exchange events have impacted greatly the evolutionary trajectory of organisms that parasitize and kill humans. The first of these goals is accomplished as this chapter is considered in the context of the previous seven. The second objective is obvious from the examples given. The organisms that make up the lion-share of the pathogens that maim and kill humans are represented in the examples discussed.Less
A goal shared by this chapter with all the other parts of this book is to emphasize the ubiquity of reticulate evolution as an agent of genetic and evolutionary change. Another goal, unique to the topic in this chapter, is to address the hypothesis that genetic exchange events have impacted greatly the evolutionary trajectory of organisms that parasitize and kill humans. The first of these goals is accomplished as this chapter is considered in the context of the previous seven. The second objective is obvious from the examples given. The organisms that make up the lion-share of the pathogens that maim and kill humans are represented in the examples discussed.
Denis C. Shields, Catriona R. Johnston, Iain M. Wallace, and Richard J. Edwards
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199299188
- eISBN:
- 9780191714979
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299188.003.0019
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
The divergence of proteins following gene duplication has long been recognized as an important process in the evolution of both new and specific protein functions. For functional divergence to occur, ...
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The divergence of proteins following gene duplication has long been recognized as an important process in the evolution of both new and specific protein functions. For functional divergence to occur, the duplicated gene has to survive duplication and avoid becoming a pseudogene (gene death). The mechanism by which a gene duplicates survive is still under some debate, but it is thought that maintenance of duplicate pairs can be accomplished by the evolution of novel functions, splitting ancestral functions between duplicate pairs called paralogs, or some combination of both neo- and subfunctionalization. Although no consensus has been reached as to which process plays a more dominant role in the generation and maintenance of duplicates at the genomic or protein level, the distinction is somewhat irrelevant for the bioinformatic prediction of individual specificity-determining sites; that is, those sites that are important for differences in gene function between paralogs. Instead, the evolutionary history and changing selective constraints for individual residues is important for the interpretation of results. This chapter examines the types of substitution that occur at these sites and the phylogenetic signals that they leave.Less
The divergence of proteins following gene duplication has long been recognized as an important process in the evolution of both new and specific protein functions. For functional divergence to occur, the duplicated gene has to survive duplication and avoid becoming a pseudogene (gene death). The mechanism by which a gene duplicates survive is still under some debate, but it is thought that maintenance of duplicate pairs can be accomplished by the evolution of novel functions, splitting ancestral functions between duplicate pairs called paralogs, or some combination of both neo- and subfunctionalization. Although no consensus has been reached as to which process plays a more dominant role in the generation and maintenance of duplicates at the genomic or protein level, the distinction is somewhat irrelevant for the bioinformatic prediction of individual specificity-determining sites; that is, those sites that are important for differences in gene function between paralogs. Instead, the evolutionary history and changing selective constraints for individual residues is important for the interpretation of results. This chapter examines the types of substitution that occur at these sites and the phylogenetic signals that they leave.
Norman A. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195306750
- eISBN:
- 9780199790203
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306750.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Positive natural selection, though rare in comparison with negative selection, is the main evolutionary force responsible for adaptive evolutionary change. Using the neutral theory to generate null ...
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Positive natural selection, though rare in comparison with negative selection, is the main evolutionary force responsible for adaptive evolutionary change. Using the neutral theory to generate null hypotheses, evolutionary geneticists have developed tests for detecting positive selection. Several of these tests make use of DNA sequence data sets that contain information on both variation existing within a species (polymorphism) and differences accumulated between species (divergence). This chapter focuses on the McDonald-Krietman test, a powerful but relatively simple test of detecting positive selection. Also discussed is how inferences about the action of selection can be made through the examination of linkage disequilibrium, patterns of correlations of genetic variants at different (but linked) sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the legacy of Kimura and his neutral theory of molecular evolution.Less
Positive natural selection, though rare in comparison with negative selection, is the main evolutionary force responsible for adaptive evolutionary change. Using the neutral theory to generate null hypotheses, evolutionary geneticists have developed tests for detecting positive selection. Several of these tests make use of DNA sequence data sets that contain information on both variation existing within a species (polymorphism) and differences accumulated between species (divergence). This chapter focuses on the McDonald-Krietman test, a powerful but relatively simple test of detecting positive selection. Also discussed is how inferences about the action of selection can be made through the examination of linkage disequilibrium, patterns of correlations of genetic variants at different (but linked) sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the legacy of Kimura and his neutral theory of molecular evolution.
James A.R. Marshall
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161563
- eISBN:
- 9781400866564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161563.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Social behavior has long puzzled evolutionary biologists, since the classical theory of natural selection maintains that individuals should not sacrifice their own fitness to affect that of others. ...
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Social behavior has long puzzled evolutionary biologists, since the classical theory of natural selection maintains that individuals should not sacrifice their own fitness to affect that of others. This book argues that a theory first presented in 1963 by William D. Hamilton—inclusive fitness theory—provides the most fundamental and general explanation for the evolution and maintenance of social behaviors in the natural world. The book guides readers through the vast and confusing literature on the evolution of social behavior, introducing and explaining the competing theories that claim to provide answers to questions such as why animals evolve to behave altruistically. Using simple statistical language and techniques that practicing biologists will be familiar with, the book provides a comprehensive yet easily understandable treatment of key concepts and their repeated misinterpretations. Particular attention is paid to how more realistic features of behavior, such as nonadditivity and conditionality, can complicate analysis. The book highlights the general problem of identifying the underlying causes of evolutionary change, and proposes fruitful approaches to doing so in the study of social evolution. It describes how inclusive fitness theory addresses both simple and complex social scenarios, the controversies surrounding the theory, and how experimental work supports the theory as the most powerful explanation for social behavior and its evolution.Less
Social behavior has long puzzled evolutionary biologists, since the classical theory of natural selection maintains that individuals should not sacrifice their own fitness to affect that of others. This book argues that a theory first presented in 1963 by William D. Hamilton—inclusive fitness theory—provides the most fundamental and general explanation for the evolution and maintenance of social behaviors in the natural world. The book guides readers through the vast and confusing literature on the evolution of social behavior, introducing and explaining the competing theories that claim to provide answers to questions such as why animals evolve to behave altruistically. Using simple statistical language and techniques that practicing biologists will be familiar with, the book provides a comprehensive yet easily understandable treatment of key concepts and their repeated misinterpretations. Particular attention is paid to how more realistic features of behavior, such as nonadditivity and conditionality, can complicate analysis. The book highlights the general problem of identifying the underlying causes of evolutionary change, and proposes fruitful approaches to doing so in the study of social evolution. It describes how inclusive fitness theory addresses both simple and complex social scenarios, the controversies surrounding the theory, and how experimental work supports the theory as the most powerful explanation for social behavior and its evolution.
Michael Doebeli
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199595372
- eISBN:
- 9780191774799
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199595372.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
To describe evolution in the general case of frequency-dependent selection, one needs a mathematical framework that describes how fitness landscapes change dynamically as a consequence of ...
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To describe evolution in the general case of frequency-dependent selection, one needs a mathematical framework that describes how fitness landscapes change dynamically as a consequence of evolutionary change. Adaptive dynamics provides such a framework. Adaptive dynamics can be derived from first principles governing individual-based ecological processes and is based on the notion of invasion fitness, a fitness definition that has a precise ecological meaning. Adaptive dynamics describes evolution as a dynamical system in phenotype space, with the evolving trait values as dynamic variables whose change is governed by dynamically changing fitness landscapes. This chapter reviews some fundamental definitions and properties of adaptive dynamics, including the definitions of the two central notions of stability: convergence stability and evolutionary stability. It presents examples that illustrate the definition of invasion fitness and the paradigmatic dynamic regimes that can occur when bifurcations lead to the loss of either convergence or evolutionary stability. Finally, it illustrates the importance of an ecologically based fitness definition by briefly describing the phenomenon of evolutionary suicide.Less
To describe evolution in the general case of frequency-dependent selection, one needs a mathematical framework that describes how fitness landscapes change dynamically as a consequence of evolutionary change. Adaptive dynamics provides such a framework. Adaptive dynamics can be derived from first principles governing individual-based ecological processes and is based on the notion of invasion fitness, a fitness definition that has a precise ecological meaning. Adaptive dynamics describes evolution as a dynamical system in phenotype space, with the evolving trait values as dynamic variables whose change is governed by dynamically changing fitness landscapes. This chapter reviews some fundamental definitions and properties of adaptive dynamics, including the definitions of the two central notions of stability: convergence stability and evolutionary stability. It presents examples that illustrate the definition of invasion fitness and the paradigmatic dynamic regimes that can occur when bifurcations lead to the loss of either convergence or evolutionary stability. Finally, it illustrates the importance of an ecologically based fitness definition by briefly describing the phenomenon of evolutionary suicide.
Anne E. Magurran
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198527855
- eISBN:
- 9780191713576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198527855.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Trinidadian guppies provided one of the first experimental demonstrations that predators have a significant impact on behaviour and morphology. This chapter begins with a brief general introduction ...
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Trinidadian guppies provided one of the first experimental demonstrations that predators have a significant impact on behaviour and morphology. This chapter begins with a brief general introduction to predator prey interactions. The consequences of variation in predation risk for Trinidadian guppies, and the trade-offs linked to effective predator defences are then evaluated. It asks if and when adaptive differences can be classed as evolutionary change, and considers the pitfalls associated with such assumptions. Schooling behaviour, evasive tactics, crypsis and colour patterns, mating activity, foraging, and time budgets are examined as well as the relationship between learning skills and geographic variation anti-predator responses. Age-related changes in morphology and behaviour are explored. The chapter ends by examining differences between the sexes in response to predation.Less
Trinidadian guppies provided one of the first experimental demonstrations that predators have a significant impact on behaviour and morphology. This chapter begins with a brief general introduction to predator prey interactions. The consequences of variation in predation risk for Trinidadian guppies, and the trade-offs linked to effective predator defences are then evaluated. It asks if and when adaptive differences can be classed as evolutionary change, and considers the pitfalls associated with such assumptions. Schooling behaviour, evasive tactics, crypsis and colour patterns, mating activity, foraging, and time budgets are examined as well as the relationship between learning skills and geographic variation anti-predator responses. Age-related changes in morphology and behaviour are explored. The chapter ends by examining differences between the sexes in response to predation.
Suzanne Estes and Henrique Teotónio
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247666
- eISBN:
- 9780520944473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247666.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter focuses on the experimental researches on reverse evolution, and discusses adaptive landscape models, which provide a useful framework to quantify contingencies of evolutionary change. ...
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This chapter focuses on the experimental researches on reverse evolution, and discusses adaptive landscape models, which provide a useful framework to quantify contingencies of evolutionary change. Studies that reveal general features of adaptive landscapes in the context of reverse evolution are also presented. The chapter furthermore discusses the genetic mechanisms of reverse evolution and effects of recombination on the likelihood of reverse evolution.Less
This chapter focuses on the experimental researches on reverse evolution, and discusses adaptive landscape models, which provide a useful framework to quantify contingencies of evolutionary change. Studies that reveal general features of adaptive landscapes in the context of reverse evolution are also presented. The chapter furthermore discusses the genetic mechanisms of reverse evolution and effects of recombination on the likelihood of reverse evolution.
Michael L. Arnold
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199229031
- eISBN:
- 9780191728266
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229031.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Even before the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, the perception of evolutionary change has been a tree-like pattern of diversification — with divergent branches spreading further and ...
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Even before the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, the perception of evolutionary change has been a tree-like pattern of diversification — with divergent branches spreading further and further from the trunk. In the only illustration of Darwin's treatise, branches large and small never reconnect. However, it is now evident that this view does not adequately encompass the richness of evolutionary pattern and process. Instead, the evolution of species from microbes to mammals builds like a web that crosses and re-crosses through genetic exchange, even as it grows outward from a point of origin. Some of the avenues for genetic exchange, for example introgression through sexual recombination versus lateral gene transfer mediated by transposable elements, are based on definably different molecular mechanisms. However, even such widely different genetic processes may result in similar effects on adaptations (either new or transferred), genome evolution, population genetics, and the evolutionary/ecological trajectory of organisms. For example, the evolution of novel adaptations (resulting from lateral gene transfer) leading to the flea-borne, deadly, causative agent of plague from a rarely-fatal, orally-transmitted, bacterial species is quite similar to the adaptations accrued from natural hybridization between annual sunflower species resulting in the formation of several new species. Thus, more and more data indicate that evolution has resulted in lineages consisting of mosaics of genes derived from different ancestors. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that the tree is an inadequate metaphor of evolutionary change. In this book, the author promotes the ‘web-of-life’ metaphor as a more appropriate representation of evolutionary change in all life-forms.Less
Even before the publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, the perception of evolutionary change has been a tree-like pattern of diversification — with divergent branches spreading further and further from the trunk. In the only illustration of Darwin's treatise, branches large and small never reconnect. However, it is now evident that this view does not adequately encompass the richness of evolutionary pattern and process. Instead, the evolution of species from microbes to mammals builds like a web that crosses and re-crosses through genetic exchange, even as it grows outward from a point of origin. Some of the avenues for genetic exchange, for example introgression through sexual recombination versus lateral gene transfer mediated by transposable elements, are based on definably different molecular mechanisms. However, even such widely different genetic processes may result in similar effects on adaptations (either new or transferred), genome evolution, population genetics, and the evolutionary/ecological trajectory of organisms. For example, the evolution of novel adaptations (resulting from lateral gene transfer) leading to the flea-borne, deadly, causative agent of plague from a rarely-fatal, orally-transmitted, bacterial species is quite similar to the adaptations accrued from natural hybridization between annual sunflower species resulting in the formation of several new species. Thus, more and more data indicate that evolution has resulted in lineages consisting of mosaics of genes derived from different ancestors. It is therefore becoming increasingly clear that the tree is an inadequate metaphor of evolutionary change. In this book, the author promotes the ‘web-of-life’ metaphor as a more appropriate representation of evolutionary change in all life-forms.
Andrew P. Hendry
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691145433
- eISBN:
- 9781400883080
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145433.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the “long lapse of ages” emphasized by Darwin—in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around ...
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In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the “long lapse of ages” emphasized by Darwin—in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This book provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change. The book covers key aspects of evolution, ecology, and their interactions. Topics range from natural selection, adaptive divergence, ecological speciation, and gene flow to population and community dynamics, ecosystem function, plasticity, and genomics. The book evaluates conceptual and methodological approaches, and draws on empirical data from natural populations—including those in human-disturbed environments—to tackle a number of classic and emerging research questions. It also discusses exciting new directions for future research at the intersection of ecology and evolution. The book reveals how evolution and ecology interact strongly on short timescales to shape the world we see around us.Less
In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the “long lapse of ages” emphasized by Darwin—in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This book provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change. The book covers key aspects of evolution, ecology, and their interactions. Topics range from natural selection, adaptive divergence, ecological speciation, and gene flow to population and community dynamics, ecosystem function, plasticity, and genomics. The book evaluates conceptual and methodological approaches, and draws on empirical data from natural populations—including those in human-disturbed environments—to tackle a number of classic and emerging research questions. It also discusses exciting new directions for future research at the intersection of ecology and evolution. The book reveals how evolution and ecology interact strongly on short timescales to shape the world we see around us.
Rama S. Singh, Jianping Xu, and Rob J. Kulathinal
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199642274
- eISBN:
- 9780191774751
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642274.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Evolutionary rates not only reflect the tempo at which genotypes, phenotypes, and species lineages are transformed over time but also offer valuable insight into the evolutionary processes involved ...
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Evolutionary rates not only reflect the tempo at which genotypes, phenotypes, and species lineages are transformed over time but also offer valuable insight into the evolutionary processes involved in divergence. For the last century and a half, biologists have been, and to a large degree still remain, steeped in the paradigm of slow and steady gradual evolutionary change. New findings and technologies are beginning to change this view as significant rate variations are seen in a large number of examples across and within all levels of biological organization. This introductory chapter provides a brief historical account and broad survey of recent findings on evolution rates and highlights examples demonstrating rapid and/or non-gradual evolutionary change. What do these exceptions to slow and gradual rates of evolution tell us about higher-level processes? How does such episodic change fit into our neo-Darwinian notions of gradualism? And what exciting prospects do we expect to discover in the future?Less
Evolutionary rates not only reflect the tempo at which genotypes, phenotypes, and species lineages are transformed over time but also offer valuable insight into the evolutionary processes involved in divergence. For the last century and a half, biologists have been, and to a large degree still remain, steeped in the paradigm of slow and steady gradual evolutionary change. New findings and technologies are beginning to change this view as significant rate variations are seen in a large number of examples across and within all levels of biological organization. This introductory chapter provides a brief historical account and broad survey of recent findings on evolution rates and highlights examples demonstrating rapid and/or non-gradual evolutionary change. What do these exceptions to slow and gradual rates of evolution tell us about higher-level processes? How does such episodic change fit into our neo-Darwinian notions of gradualism? And what exciting prospects do we expect to discover in the future?
Rama S. Singh, Jianping Xu, and Rob J. Kulathinal (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199642274
- eISBN:
- 9780191774751
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642274.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Ever since the pioneering work of Darwin and Wallace, evolutionary biologists have attempted to understand the evolutionary dynamics of genetic systems. A range of theories on evolutionary rates — ...
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Ever since the pioneering work of Darwin and Wallace, evolutionary biologists have attempted to understand the evolutionary dynamics of genetic systems. A range of theories on evolutionary rates — from static to gradual to punctuated to quantum — have been developed, primarily by comparing morphological changes over geological timescales as described in the fossil record. Recent studies, however, are beginning to change the way that we view evolutionary patterns and processes. New paleontological, experimental, molecular, and genomic investigations are providing a tremendous amount of novel data and fresh perspectives, offering valuable insights on the rates of evolutionary change, particularly in fast-evolving genetic systems. This book captures these recent exciting developments across a broad range of morphological, molecular, cellular, developmental, and genetic investigations in both natural and experimental populations over a diversity of life forms. The book provides a series of case studies that exemplify rapid evolution, and showcases the diversity of rapidly evolving genes and genetic systems, emphasizing the extremely important roles that they play in adaptation, speciation, and the generation and maintenance of a diversity of biological traits and properties.Less
Ever since the pioneering work of Darwin and Wallace, evolutionary biologists have attempted to understand the evolutionary dynamics of genetic systems. A range of theories on evolutionary rates — from static to gradual to punctuated to quantum — have been developed, primarily by comparing morphological changes over geological timescales as described in the fossil record. Recent studies, however, are beginning to change the way that we view evolutionary patterns and processes. New paleontological, experimental, molecular, and genomic investigations are providing a tremendous amount of novel data and fresh perspectives, offering valuable insights on the rates of evolutionary change, particularly in fast-evolving genetic systems. This book captures these recent exciting developments across a broad range of morphological, molecular, cellular, developmental, and genetic investigations in both natural and experimental populations over a diversity of life forms. The book provides a series of case studies that exemplify rapid evolution, and showcases the diversity of rapidly evolving genes and genetic systems, emphasizing the extremely important roles that they play in adaptation, speciation, and the generation and maintenance of a diversity of biological traits and properties.
Robert C. Berwick and Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034241
- eISBN:
- 9780262333351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034241.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
This chapter explains that the book is a collection of essays that address the evolution of language. It examines the tension between Darwinian infinitesimal evolutionary change and continuity, with ...
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This chapter explains that the book is a collection of essays that address the evolution of language. It examines the tension between Darwinian infinitesimal evolutionary change and continuity, with the goal of resolving it. It considers Charles Darwin's view that language is closely associated with thought, what the paleoneurologist Harry Jerison calls an “internal mental tool,” and provides empirical linguistic support for this position. It also explores three key properties of human language syntactic structure, all captured by minimalist system assumptions: human language syntax is hierarchical, and is blind to considerations of linear order, with linear ordering constraints reserved for externalization; the particular hierarchical structures associated with sentences affects their interpretation; and there is no upper bound on the depth of relevant hierarchical structure. The book concludes by assessing the biological basis for vocal learning from an evolutionary perspective. In the remainder of this chapter, contemporary evolutionary theory and theories about the evolution of language are discussed, along with vocal learning and production, as mediated by the sensorimotor interface, and genomics.Less
This chapter explains that the book is a collection of essays that address the evolution of language. It examines the tension between Darwinian infinitesimal evolutionary change and continuity, with the goal of resolving it. It considers Charles Darwin's view that language is closely associated with thought, what the paleoneurologist Harry Jerison calls an “internal mental tool,” and provides empirical linguistic support for this position. It also explores three key properties of human language syntactic structure, all captured by minimalist system assumptions: human language syntax is hierarchical, and is blind to considerations of linear order, with linear ordering constraints reserved for externalization; the particular hierarchical structures associated with sentences affects their interpretation; and there is no upper bound on the depth of relevant hierarchical structure. The book concludes by assessing the biological basis for vocal learning from an evolutionary perspective. In the remainder of this chapter, contemporary evolutionary theory and theories about the evolution of language are discussed, along with vocal learning and production, as mediated by the sensorimotor interface, and genomics.
Rowan D.H. Barrett and Andrew P. Hendry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199602568
- eISBN:
- 9780191810121
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199602568.003.0016
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology
This chapter considers the notion of evolutionary responses in mitigating the harmful effects of environmental change. It describes how the persistence of populations will depend of phenotypic ...
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This chapter considers the notion of evolutionary responses in mitigating the harmful effects of environmental change. It describes how the persistence of populations will depend of phenotypic responses that better suit individuals for new conditions as a result of rapid environmental global change. It discusses how these evolutionary responses occur through individual-level behavioural or plastic changes, or population-level evolutionary changes. It reviews studies that have documented adaptive phenotypic responses to environmental change, and highlights how these examples have not investigated their potential role in making the difference between population persistence and extirpation. It also highlights key issues about evolutionary rescue and the limitations of this process, and outlines pressing research questions and potential empirical approaches to their resolution.Less
This chapter considers the notion of evolutionary responses in mitigating the harmful effects of environmental change. It describes how the persistence of populations will depend of phenotypic responses that better suit individuals for new conditions as a result of rapid environmental global change. It discusses how these evolutionary responses occur through individual-level behavioural or plastic changes, or population-level evolutionary changes. It reviews studies that have documented adaptive phenotypic responses to environmental change, and highlights how these examples have not investigated their potential role in making the difference between population persistence and extirpation. It also highlights key issues about evolutionary rescue and the limitations of this process, and outlines pressing research questions and potential empirical approaches to their resolution.
Andreas Wagner
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199692590
- eISBN:
- 9780191774829
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692590.003.0131
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Neutralism and selectionism are two opposing perspectives on evolutionary change. In the broadest sense, they apply to all evolutionary change, including evolutionary innovation. Any theory of ...
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Neutralism and selectionism are two opposing perspectives on evolutionary change. In the broadest sense, they apply to all evolutionary change, including evolutionary innovation. Any theory of innovation thus needs to have a position towards them. This chapter first explains these two perspectives. It then provides some background material on the population dynamics of neutral change. It proposes a synthetic view on neutralism and selectionism that can resolve the tension between them. In this view, neutralism and selectionism capture complementary aspects of biological reality. Genotype networks play a central role in it. This view also clarifies the role of molecular exaptations in innovation.Less
Neutralism and selectionism are two opposing perspectives on evolutionary change. In the broadest sense, they apply to all evolutionary change, including evolutionary innovation. Any theory of innovation thus needs to have a position towards them. This chapter first explains these two perspectives. It then provides some background material on the population dynamics of neutral change. It proposes a synthetic view on neutralism and selectionism that can resolve the tension between them. In this view, neutralism and selectionism capture complementary aspects of biological reality. Genotype networks play a central role in it. This view also clarifies the role of molecular exaptations in innovation.
Richard Byrne
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198522652
- eISBN:
- 9780191688676
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198522652.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
‘Intelligence’ has long been considered to be a feature unique to human beings, giving us the capacity to imagine, to think, to deceive, to make complex connections between cause and effect, to ...
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‘Intelligence’ has long been considered to be a feature unique to human beings, giving us the capacity to imagine, to think, to deceive, to make complex connections between cause and effect, to devise elaborate strategies for solving problems. But like all our other features, intelligence is a product of evolutionary change. Until recently, it was difficult to obtain evidence of this process from the frail testimony of a few bones and stone tools. However, it has become clear in the last fifteen years that the origins of human intelligence can be investigated by the comparative study of primates, our closest non-human relatives, giving strong impetus to the case for an ‘evolutionary psychology’, and the scientific study of the mind.Less
‘Intelligence’ has long been considered to be a feature unique to human beings, giving us the capacity to imagine, to think, to deceive, to make complex connections between cause and effect, to devise elaborate strategies for solving problems. But like all our other features, intelligence is a product of evolutionary change. Until recently, it was difficult to obtain evidence of this process from the frail testimony of a few bones and stone tools. However, it has become clear in the last fifteen years that the origins of human intelligence can be investigated by the comparative study of primates, our closest non-human relatives, giving strong impetus to the case for an ‘evolutionary psychology’, and the scientific study of the mind.
Robert C. Berwick and Noam Chomsky
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034241
- eISBN:
- 9780262333351
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034241.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in ...
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We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—“the language faculty”—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. It explains that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define “language” and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Noam Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. The book discusses the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Charles Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.Less
We are born crying, but those cries signal the first stirring of language. Within a year or so, infants master the sound system of their language; a few years after that, they are engaging in conversations. This remarkable, species-specific ability to acquire any human language—“the language faculty”—raises important biological questions about language, including how it has evolved. This book addresses the enduring question of the evolution of language. It explains that until recently the evolutionary question could not be properly posed, because we did not have a clear idea of how to define “language” and therefore what it was that had evolved. But since the Minimalist Program, developed by Noam Chomsky and others, we know the key ingredients of language and can put together an account of the evolution of human language and what distinguishes us from all other animals. The book discusses the biolinguistic perspective on language, which views language as a particular object of the biological world; the computational efficiency of language as a system of thought and understanding; the tension between Charles Darwin's idea of gradual change and our contemporary understanding about evolutionary change and language; and evidence from nonhuman animals, in particular vocal learning in songbirds.
Wolfgang Merkel, Raj Kollmorgen, and Hans-Jürgen Wagener (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- March 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198829911
- eISBN:
- 9780191868368
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198829911.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Social institutions and governmental regimes are systems of action structured by values and norms. Within these systems, self-conscious actors communicate with each other using different material and ...
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Social institutions and governmental regimes are systems of action structured by values and norms. Within these systems, self-conscious actors communicate with each other using different material and symbolic resources. The systems develop and change in response to new knowledge, altered allocations of resources, and changes in values and institutions. ‘Transformation’ analyses radical systemic change from the intentional policy point of view while ‘transition’ describes the historical path along which such change is taking place. The pragmatic design of positive institutions, which is at the basis of the concept of transformation, is historically a rather recent phenomenon. Although these concepts gained prominence only with the great turnaround of 1989/90, they have a prehistory in social theory (Marx, Menger, Weber, Schumpeter, and Polanyi, for instance) and in historical development (the French and the Russian revolutions, Meiji Restoration, post-Civil War United States, for instance). Transformation research thus has at its disposal a wide field of cases and analytic levels.Less
Social institutions and governmental regimes are systems of action structured by values and norms. Within these systems, self-conscious actors communicate with each other using different material and symbolic resources. The systems develop and change in response to new knowledge, altered allocations of resources, and changes in values and institutions. ‘Transformation’ analyses radical systemic change from the intentional policy point of view while ‘transition’ describes the historical path along which such change is taking place. The pragmatic design of positive institutions, which is at the basis of the concept of transformation, is historically a rather recent phenomenon. Although these concepts gained prominence only with the great turnaround of 1989/90, they have a prehistory in social theory (Marx, Menger, Weber, Schumpeter, and Polanyi, for instance) and in historical development (the French and the Russian revolutions, Meiji Restoration, post-Civil War United States, for instance). Transformation research thus has at its disposal a wide field of cases and analytic levels.
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226596167
- eISBN:
- 9780226596181
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226596181.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the analogies of Charles Darwin's concept of sexual selection to the politics of mating in Argentina. It discusses attempts of such figures as Domingo Sarmiento and Eduardo ...
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This chapter examines the analogies of Charles Darwin's concept of sexual selection to the politics of mating in Argentina. It discusses attempts of such figures as Domingo Sarmiento and Eduardo Holmberg to show that nation and race can be considered to have emerged via sexual selection and thus subject cultural direction. This chapter highlights the important of sexual selection in the discussions of race and argues that the open-endedness of the constitutive analogies of Darwinism underwrote an ambitious generalization of the Darwinian account of evolutionary change and its application to a social and cultural realm now conceived as at least partially autonomous from the biological.Less
This chapter examines the analogies of Charles Darwin's concept of sexual selection to the politics of mating in Argentina. It discusses attempts of such figures as Domingo Sarmiento and Eduardo Holmberg to show that nation and race can be considered to have emerged via sexual selection and thus subject cultural direction. This chapter highlights the important of sexual selection in the discussions of race and argues that the open-endedness of the constitutive analogies of Darwinism underwrote an ambitious generalization of the Darwinian account of evolutionary change and its application to a social and cultural realm now conceived as at least partially autonomous from the biological.
Michael L. Arnold, Jennafer A.P. Hamlin, Amanda N. Brothers, and Evangeline S. Ballerini
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- December 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199642274
- eISBN:
- 9780191774751
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642274.003.0025
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Natural hybridization is a widespread phenomenon, detected among clades of fungi, plants, and animals. The potential outcomes of genetic exchange include adaptive trait evolution, speciation, and ...
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Natural hybridization is a widespread phenomenon, detected among clades of fungi, plants, and animals. The potential outcomes of genetic exchange include adaptive trait evolution, speciation, and even the radiation of entire species complexes. Not only does natural hybridization have the potential to affect evolutionary processes, it often does so very rapidly. Indeed, adaptations can be transferred in only a handful of hybrid generations. Likewise, entire species assemblages may arise from a hybrid swarm over the space of a few thousand years. This chapter tests these conclusions with examples from a diverse array of fungal, botanical, and zoological examples. Each example illustrates the potential for natural hybridization to provide the genetic and phenotypic variation necessary for rapid, adaptive, diversifying evolution.Less
Natural hybridization is a widespread phenomenon, detected among clades of fungi, plants, and animals. The potential outcomes of genetic exchange include adaptive trait evolution, speciation, and even the radiation of entire species complexes. Not only does natural hybridization have the potential to affect evolutionary processes, it often does so very rapidly. Indeed, adaptations can be transferred in only a handful of hybrid generations. Likewise, entire species assemblages may arise from a hybrid swarm over the space of a few thousand years. This chapter tests these conclusions with examples from a diverse array of fungal, botanical, and zoological examples. Each example illustrates the potential for natural hybridization to provide the genetic and phenotypic variation necessary for rapid, adaptive, diversifying evolution.
Joachim T. Haug
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780190648954
- eISBN:
- 9780197538005
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190648954.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Aquatic Biology
Many crustaceans undergo considerable morphological and ecological changes throughout ontogeny. Especially drastic and rapid cases are generally addressed as metamorphosis, which cannot be easily ...
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Many crustaceans undergo considerable morphological and ecological changes throughout ontogeny. Especially drastic and rapid cases are generally addressed as metamorphosis, which cannot be easily differentiated from nonmetamorphic development; a comparative view is necessary. Evolutionary changes lead to a more metamorphic development either by changing the speed of the developmental process or the morphological difference between earlier and later stages. Five cases of evolutionary changes are differentiated: (1) Skipping stages: An ancestrally gradual developmental pattern becomes more metamorphic as the morphological changes of several molts occur in a single molt; the intermediate stage is skipped. (2) Peramorphosis: A developmental pattern becomes more metamorphic by increasing the morphological difference between early and late stages by “adding” new morphologies to the later part of individual development. (3) Delay and acceleration, single step: A single larval stage becomes delayed in development, more resembling the earlier stage, but differing more strongly from the next stage; hence, this later molt becomes more metamorphic. (4) Delay and acceleration, globally: Several larval stages are delayed in development and hence increase the morphological difference to the later larval stages; this stronger difference is bridged by a single, more metamorphic molt. (5) Caenogenesis: new structures evolve in earlier stages, increasing the difference to later stages; these structures become reduced usually in a single molt, making it more metamorphic. For all cases, examples are presented. Furthermore, terminological issues are discussed, as well as costs and benefits of metamorphic development, followed by a short comparison to insects.Less
Many crustaceans undergo considerable morphological and ecological changes throughout ontogeny. Especially drastic and rapid cases are generally addressed as metamorphosis, which cannot be easily differentiated from nonmetamorphic development; a comparative view is necessary. Evolutionary changes lead to a more metamorphic development either by changing the speed of the developmental process or the morphological difference between earlier and later stages. Five cases of evolutionary changes are differentiated: (1) Skipping stages: An ancestrally gradual developmental pattern becomes more metamorphic as the morphological changes of several molts occur in a single molt; the intermediate stage is skipped. (2) Peramorphosis: A developmental pattern becomes more metamorphic by increasing the morphological difference between early and late stages by “adding” new morphologies to the later part of individual development. (3) Delay and acceleration, single step: A single larval stage becomes delayed in development, more resembling the earlier stage, but differing more strongly from the next stage; hence, this later molt becomes more metamorphic. (4) Delay and acceleration, globally: Several larval stages are delayed in development and hence increase the morphological difference to the later larval stages; this stronger difference is bridged by a single, more metamorphic molt. (5) Caenogenesis: new structures evolve in earlier stages, increasing the difference to later stages; these structures become reduced usually in a single molt, making it more metamorphic. For all cases, examples are presented. Furthermore, terminological issues are discussed, as well as costs and benefits of metamorphic development, followed by a short comparison to insects.
