Pete Freedman Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) In real life I am a college biology professor - what you are referring to is called 'Punctuated Equilibrium' - short bursts of evolution to attempt to adapt to new conditions, followed by a longer period of maintaining the status quo when conditions are stable. This is then overlaid with the 'competitive exclusion principle' which states that only one species (in this case corps) can occupy a given niche at the same time. I thought this had more to do with a single mutation that has a dramatic effect on morphology, but survives because it advantageous even though it creates new problems for the organism. This is then followed by a long period of smaller mutations that help the organism adapt to the new change. Like a pre-giraffe being born with an neck two feet longer than any other. That advantage keeps the gene going, but the health issues inherent in that take tens of thousands of years to work out. Or, adding electronics in drum corps, and a decade later corps are still having drop outs at finals. The wheels grind slow... Edit: I realize the giraffe example is still one of adapting to conditions,as you said, but the conditions are internal rather than external. Or something like that. Edited September 19, 2015 by Pete Freedman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 (edited) Getting awful memories of my Ecology and Evolution course I took a year ago double post Edited September 21, 2015 by IllianaLancerContra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cappybara Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 I thought this had more to do with a single mutation that has a dramatic effect on morphology, but survives because it advantageous even though it creates new problems for the organism. This is then followed by a long period of smaller mutations that help the organism adapt to the new change. Like a pre-giraffe being born with an neck two feet longer than any other. That advantage keeps the gene going, but the health issues inherent in that take tens of thousands of years to work out. Or, adding electronics in drum corps, and a decade later corps are still having drop outs at finals. The wheels grind slow... Edit: I realize the giraffe example is still one of adapting to conditions,as you said, but the conditions are internal rather than external. Or something like that. Perhaps there are multiple definitions, but the one I'm most familiar with is the one mentioned by Illiana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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