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Punctuated equilibrium is a reaction to your claim that evolution speeds up exponentialy with the size of the population. In practice, it's more like you need v
by lukasLansky 11y ago
Punctuated equilibrium is a reaction to your claim that evolution speeds up exponentialy with the size of the population. In practice, it's more like you need very small, separated group to move things forward. It's explained by the fact that one gene contribution to fitness is heavily dependent on other genes, so an in-one-context-advantageous mutation has problems with crossing-over destroying some conditions of its success.
- PepeGomez 11y agoOh that, yes, but that's exactly what sex allows to happen. Imagine there are three populations of desert flowers, each with its own adaptations to drought. One population has mutations a and b, other has c and the last one has d and e. When these populations meet, their genes recombine and in a few generations there will be individuals with all five, much more resistant than any of the parent groups. This is entirely impossible with asexual species - the strains would merely compete with each other and nothing interesting would happen.