If a species becomes threatened with extinction due to rapid
changes in its ecosystem, is it possible for evolution (natural selection) to
speed up? In the past, researchers have
used microbes and yeasts because they can test many generations in a small
period of time. They hoped to apply what
they learned to things like islands after tsunamis, forests after fires, the
earth after the meteor impact that killed the dinosaurs, and that kind of
thing.
It is now getting personal because of the impending climate
change. Will humanity be able to evolve
through the changes that are looking more and more inevitable? A special issue of Philosophical Transactions
of the Royal Society summarized the findings on what researchers have termed “rapid
evolution” (RE). This is not my area of
expertise, but I think I can adequately summarize the basics.
Here are the factors the help a species evolve rapidly:
·
Starting with a large population. I think seven billion is pretty large!!
·
Genetic diversity. I think we have that too, There are some real bizaros out there.
·
Rapid intrinsic mutation rate. Thanks to all the
crap we now put into our bodies, I think we got that too.
·
Strong natural fitness. Definitely not all of us, but there are some
incredible specimens out there.
·
Space in the ecosystem. Since we are killing off the other species in
advance, I think we have done this for ourselves.
·
Some luck.
Hmmm. Maybe there is
hope for us. Well, some evolved version
of us. I wonder what that humanity would
look like . . . .
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