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Understanding Evolution

Understanding Evolution

Your one-stop source for information on evolution

Understanding Evolution

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  • Evolution 101
    • An introduction to evolution: what is evolution and how does it work?
      • 1_historyoflife_menu_iconThe history of life: looking at the patterns – Change over time and shared ancestors
      • 2_mechanisms_menu_iconMechanisms: the processes of evolution – Selection, mutation, migration, and more
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Home → Survival of the “fit enough”
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Survival of the “fit enough”

There are many reasons why natural selection may not produce a “perfectly-engineered” trait. For example, you might imagine that cheetahs would be more fit (produce more offspring) if they could run just a little faster and catch more prey. Here are a few reasons why natural selection might not produce perfection or faster cheetahs:

  • Lack of necessary genetic variation
    Selection can only operate on the available genetic variation. A cheetah might run faster if it had “faster genes” — but if “faster” genes are not in the population from mutation or gene flow, evolution in this direction will not happen. A “faster” cheetah might evolve if the fastest cheetah in this population passed its “faster” genes to its offspring.

Faster cheetahs

  • Constraints due to history
    Perhaps a different arrangement of leg muscles and bones would produce cheetahs that run faster — however, the basic body form of mammals is already laid out in their genes and development in such a mutually constrained way, that it is unlikely to be altered. There really may be “no way to get there from here.”
  • Trade-offs
    Changing one feature for the better might change another for the worse. Perhaps “faster genes” are in the population — but there is a trade-off associated with them: running faster for short distances means the cheetah’s metabolism requires even more energy or that the cheetah’s legs must become hazardously delicate. Although longer limb bones increase stride, their chances of failing due to bending loads increases as well. In this case, perhaps it would get no net increase in fitness as a result of the “faster genes.”

Trade-off between the safety factor and length of limb bone

  • Evo Examples
  • Teaching Resources

Learn more about evolutionary baggage and constraints in context:

  • Mantis shrimp shoulder their evolutionary baggage and bluff, a case study.
  • Oxygen as an evolutionary constraint, a news brief with discussion questions.

Learn more about evolutionary trade-offs in context:

  • Evolution from a virus's view, a news brief with discussion questions.
  • Quick evolution leads to quiet crickets, a news brief with discussion questions.

Teach your students about evolutionary baggage and constraints: Interactive investigation: The arthropod story, a web activity for grades 6-12.

Find additional lessons, activities, videos, and articles that focus on evolutionary baggage and constraints.

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