Questions tagged [macroevolution]
24 questions
12
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1 answer
Do ring species exist?
In trying to understand evolution better, I have been looking at examples of speciation, and have thus come across the topic of ring species. I have tried to find concrete examples of how these work, but have been unable to. This paper deals with…
Niobius
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6
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1 answer
Evolution of diversity and extinction resistance
I saw a comment on an answer to another question that touched on an interesting topic:
keeping diversity is useful for parameter exploration or to adapt to future environmental change
My initial thought was that evolution doesn't "know" about the…
augurar
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3
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The mechanism of the evolutionary rate hypothesis
There are several hypotheses for explaining the latitudinal gradients in species diversity (link). Of which, the evolutionary rate hypothesis states that warm temperature increases the rate of speciation. I want to know why warm temperature…
quibble
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2
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How to find out the when we had a common ancestor with a particular animal
For example, Jordan Peterson claims that human and lobsters have a common ancestor X million year ago. I wonder, how does he know it?
I'd be so delighted to visit a website, where I could select two currently existing species and it'd show me how…
shal
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2
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4 answers
Can the theory of natural selection distinguish between two correlated phenotypic traits?
Consider the following two situations:
A species X has trait $T_1$ that is gradually selected for by some characteristic $E_1$ in some ecological niche but it turns out that the genes for $T_1$ also "turn on" genes for trait $T_2$ so that…
Amara
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2
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1 answer
Basener's ceiling and evolution
There is a theorem in the Intelligent Design literature called Basener's ceiling. It states that all evolutionary algorithms that attempt to optimize some fitness function will eventually reach a plateau where complexity no longer increases. This…
yters
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Is the birds' decision to fly away congenital or learned behaviour?
I see two possibilities how could the birds know what to do every fall:
The birds' migrations are driven entirely by the vertical memetics and today it is just a custom transferred from parents to offsprings.
There is a gene that causes birds to…
Probably
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2 answers
Does evolution only give rise to traits that confer fitness?
Does evolution only give rise to traits that confer fitness? In other words, does the existence of a trait imply it's conferring of fitness? If not, what are some counter examples?
Hui Wang
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How do similar environments on islands in close proximity result in allopatric speciation?
I would like to ask a question on the very classic example of allopatric speciation seen in the Galapagos finches. Adaptive radiation occurred because the finches flew from island to island, so there is gene flow, and the different environments on…
WilliamKin
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How does mutualism arise?
How can a mutualism between two species arise? I have thinking about this for a while and I have come up with the following points
1.If mutualism gives one specie a competitive edge over its competitors then it could arise. Suppose you are being…
Black Dagger
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How to incorporate intraspecific variation in discrete characters in comparative analyzes?
I'd like to run a multivariate analysis (Pavoine et al. 2011) that aims to disentagle the effect of environmental gradients on traits, considering its autocorrelation with phylogeny and space. It uses the RLQ approach and works with both discrete…
Diogo B Provete
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1
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1 answer
Evidence of species transitions
I had a debate with a person who believes in some kind of creativism, let's call it that way.
And in the middle of the "debate", an interesting question popped up.
What are evidences of "transition between species". Is there a fossil record that…
DolkaPot
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How did the double circulatory system evolve from the single circulatory system
I already learned how the mammal circulatory system (double circulatory system) evolved from the reptilian circulatory system. How did natural selection evolve the reptilian circulatory system and the amphibian circulatory from the fish circulatory…
Timothy
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What is variation in Speciation
I read a lot about speciation. To my knowledge, a species is often defined as a group of individuals that actually or potentially interbreed in nature and produce fertile offspring. Speciation is a lineage-splitting event that produces two or more…
Tanivr
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Are there computational models verifying the feasibility that complex biological systems can emerge by random mutations plus natural selection?
I am interested in studying the theoretical feasibility that very complex systems such as the vascular system, the respiratory system, the nervous system, the digestive system, among others, could have emerged by means of random mutations plus…
xwb
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