Lots of questions, and good ones.
As life becomes more complex does the pool of all possible mutations increase and thereby increase the potential to hit on the right combination for a new or changed environment? Or are the survival requirements of a more complex phenotype more exacting?
You can have some pretty complex creatures on a relatively small genome and some simpler ones on larger genomes. Human vs amoeba as an example. Obviously the larger the genome the more chance for mutation. I'm not sure how much of the Polychaos dubium 670 billion base pairs represent active coding allels, but I would think it could take on many more mutations than a human (2.9 billion bp) that are in non-coding portions thus
neutral.
So, no, complexity does not necessarily increase the genome nor increase the chance of a random beneficial hit.
Do you think if we were to start firing lichens and bacteria at the moon that we would eventually get one that sticks.
We're pretty good at hitting the moon with anything we throw at it.
Given the lack of atmosphere, exposed to the solar winds, I don't think anything organic from this planet could survive up there.
If there is an environment for every mutation is there a mutation for every environment?
I assume you mean where a mutation would be beneficial.
No. I can imagine there are mutations in "highly conserved" genes that are fatal in just about every environment. And "mutation for every environment" indicates that the environment causes specific mutations? No. That Lamarckian stuff went out many decades ago.
Take this fish that has started to eat birds from the shore for example. Say the behaviour is successful for an extended period of time or, in other words, that the environment remains stable. Is it only a matter of time before one of these fish mutates some fins that work more like feet or gills that work more like lungs?
Not at all, unless, I suppose, we're talking an infinity of time in which case
everything will happen. No, there is no foretelling
any features or mutations.
It is like one of those electronic lock decoders that goes through all of the possible combinations until it hits on the right one. With the added complexity that the combination is changing while the search is running.
I like this. Neat analogy. Unfortunately there is a huge number of digits and symbols on the dial and the length of the combination is unknown. And when you hit on a combination and open the door you often find another lock, so you have to open that one before the one you just opened closes you out. Seems hopeless until you remember there are billions upon billions of trials. Something is bound to hit, but there is no way of knowing what it will do.
Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.
Edited by AZPaul3, : usual
Edited by AZPaul3, : I am never going to get this right.