True. Unused traits that are not maintained with selection pressure begin accumulating random mutations. The eventual outcome is the complete disappearance of s

True. Unused traits that are not maintained with selection pressure begin accumulating random mutations. The eventual outcome is the complete disappearance of said trait. The downside to this is that the process of losing a trait is much more slower than gaining a trait. Think about it: Natural selection is a targeted process where by favored traits are directly selected and built up. Thus each generation gets a step closer towards a final selected outcome. On the other hand, losing a trait involves one waiting for random mutations to basically destroy the trait by random chance, no direct selection is involved. By probability the complete destruction of a trait not maintained under selection pressure will eventually occur given enough time. It is however basically comparing a blind folded dart game with a dart game that isn't blind folded. Hitting the center of the board in the blind folded game will take much longer than the other game but the center of the board will always eventually be hit given enough turns. We have seen experiments (and the recent amazing video) of bacteria evolving resistance to antibiotics. Does anyone know of any research that studies the length of time it takes for these bacteria to lose a trait?