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Author Topic:   Have we halted our own Evolution?
nwr
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Posts: 6412
From: Geneva, Illinois
Joined: 08-08-2005
Member Rating: 5.3


Message 24 of 79 (296475)
03-18-2006 12:21 PM
Reply to: Message 21 by Percy
03-18-2006 10:35 AM


There seems to be some difference of opinion among evolutionary scientists about whether we're still evolving significantly.
In part, that's because people disagree on what it means to say that we are evolving. To some folk, evolving is change in gene distribution. To others, evolving is change in morphology.
Let's remember that evolution requires natural selection from within a range of genetic variation. At times when selection pressures are weak, we should be seeing a building up of the amount of variation within the species. And that increased variation could serve the species well. At some future time, whether it be a new killer disease, or whether it be major climate change, there could be periods of heavy selection pressure. The increased variation will be the raw material for that period of selection. The greater the amount of variation in the population, the greater the opportunity for new creative combinations to arise during a future selection crisis.

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 Message 21 by Percy, posted 03-18-2006 10:35 AM Percy has not replied

  
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