The dynamics of evolutionary stasis

Eldredge, Niles; Thompson, John N.; Brakefield, Paul M.; Gavrilets, Sergey; Jablonski, David; Jackson, Jeremy B. C.; Lenski, Richard E.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; McPeek, Mark A.; Miller, William R.

doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2005)031[0133:tdoes]2.0.co;2

Cited by 328 publications

(324 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Niche stability also provides a potential mechanism for the morphological stasis observed within species over millions of years [8]. More specifically, niche stability requires species to track preferred habitats as the environment changes, thereby continuously joining and separating populations on scales of less than 10 000 years or so.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given these changes, debate exists as to whether species can adapt their physiological tolerances, or niches, to altered environmental conditions [1][2][3][4]. Determining whether species' niches evolve or remain stable in the face of environmental change is important for implementing proper conservation measures, mitigating threats posed to biodiversity [5][6][7] and shedding light on macroevolutionary dynamics [8][9][10][11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years

et al. 2014

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years

et al. 2014

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“…Ideally such a theory would link microevolutionary processes (e.g., selection, mutation, random drift, adaptation, coevolution, competition, etc. ), studied by evolutionary biologists and ecologists, with macroevolutionary patterns (e.g., stasis, punctuation, dynamics of diversity and disparity, species selection), studied by paleontologists (Eldredge et al 2005). The initial step in building such a theory would be a development of a theoretical framework for modeling adaptive radiation.…”

Section: Two Focal Areas For Future Research On the Origins Of Biodivmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different, sometimes contradictory, scenarios explaining adaptive radiation have been offered (Mayr 1963;Schluter 2000;Simpson 1953). Some authors emphasize random genetic drift in small founder populations (Mayr 1963), while others focus on strong directional selection in small founder populations (Eldredge 2003;Eldredge et al 2005), strong diversifying selection (Schluter 2000), or relaxed selection (Mayr 1963). Which of these scenarios is more general is controversial.…”

Section: A Theory Of Adaptive Radiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

Gavrilets¹

2010

Evolution—the Extended Synthesis

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The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s remains the paradigm of evolutionary biology (Futuyma 1998;Gould 2002;Pigliucci 2007;Ridley 1993). The progress in understanding the process of evolution made during that period had been a direct result of the development of theoretical population genetics by Fisher, Wright, and Haldane, who built a series of mathematical models, approaches, and techniques showing how natural selection, mutation, drift, migration, and other evolutionary factors are expected to shape the genetic and phenotypic characteristics of biological populations. These theoretical advances provided "a great impetus to experimental work on the genetics of populations" (Sheppard 1954) and a "guiding light for rigorous quantitative experimentation and observation" (Dobzhansky 1955), and had many other far-reaching implications.According to Provine (1978), the work of Fisher, Wright, and Haldane had significant influence on evolutionary thinking in at least four ways. First, their models showed that the processes of selection, mutation, drift, and migration were largely sufficient to account for microevolution. Second, they showed that some directions explored by biologists were not fruitful. Third, the models complemented and lent greater significance to particular results of field and laboratory research. Fourth, they stimulated and provided framework for later empirical research. Since the time of the Modern Synthesis, evolutionary biology has arguably remained one of the most mathematized branches of the life sciences, in which mathematical models and methods continuously guide empirical research, provide tools for testing hypotheses, explain complex interactions between multiple evolutionary factors, train biological intuition, identify crucial parameters and factors, evaluate relevant temporal and spatial scales, and point to the gaps in biological knowledge, as well as provide simple and intuitive tools and metaphors for thinking about complex phenomena. In this chapter, I discuss two particular areas of theoretical evolutionary biology that have experienced significant progress since the late 1980s: a theory of fitness landscapes and a theory of speciation. I also outline two particular directions for theoretical studies on the origins of biodiversity which are especially important, in my opinion, for unification of different branches of the life sciences. One is the development of a theory of large-scale evolutionary diversification and adaptive radiation. The other is a quantitative theory of the origins of our own species. Classical Fitness LandscapesThe theoretical notion of fitness landscapes (also known as "adaptive landscapes," "adaptive topographies," and "surfaces of selective value"), which emerged at the onset of the Modern Synthesis, has become a standard tool both for formal mathematical modeling and for the intuitive metaphorical visualizing of biological evolution, adaptation, and speciation. This notion was first introduced by Sewall Wright in a classic paper deliv...

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“…They recognized that most species throughout their history, often many millions of years, were stable and displayed what they termed stasis (Eldredge 1985). This stasis need not be obdurate, there could be subtle oscillations in morphology (Lieberman et al 1995;Eldredge et al 2005), but overall net stability prevailed. Further, evolutionary change was concentrated in geologically relatively short intervals that might represent 5,000 to 50,000 years.…”

Section: Reinstating Geography Into Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Geography of Evolution and the Evolution of Geography

Lieberman

2012

Evo Edu Outreach

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Insights into the geography of life have played a fundamental role in motivating major developments in evolutionary biology. The focus here is on outlining some of these major developments, specifically in the context of paleontology, by emphasizing the significance of geographic isolation and allopatric speciation, punctuated equilibria, and the Turnover Pulse Hypothesis to evolutionary theory. One of the major debates in evolution concerns the relative contributions of abiotic and biotic factors to macroevolution, and each one of these developments increasingly suggested that it was climatic and geologic factors, rather than competition, that played the primary role in motivating macroevolution. New technical developments, including in the area of Geographic Information Systems, allow continued detailed testing of the relative roles that biotic as opposed to abiotic factors play in causing evolution, and some of the work in this area will also be described.

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The dynamics of evolutionary stasis

Cited by 328 publications

References 81 publications

Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years

Macroevolutionary consequences of profound climate change on niche evolution in marine molluscs over the past three million years

High-Dimensional Fitness Landscapes and Speciation

The Geography of Evolution and the Evolution of Geography

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