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The longer you live, the less adaptable your species is. The more generations you can have in a shorter amount of time, the faster you can have beneficial mutat
by huytersd 3y ago
The longer you live, the less adaptable your species is. The more generations you can have in a shorter amount of time, the faster you can have beneficial mutations that help your species survive changing conditions.
- troupe 3y agoI'm not seeing how longevity slows the number of generations you can have per unit of time. That seems like it would be determined by how quickly a species reproduces after being born...not how long they live.
- huytersd 3y agoYes, I thought about that but I went with the general assumption (based on life history theory) that longer lifespans equals longer times to reach sexual maturity.
- I_Am_Nous 3y agoGenerally, the more individuals you have competing for resources, the more difficult it is to raise viable offspring. If there are far more elderly individuals who cannot reproduce, they are essentially preventing those resources from being used to mature offspring.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> longer you live, the less adaptable your species is I live near Yellowstone. There are seasonal hunting grounds the bison, which live a decade or two, won’t cross into. The wolves, meanwhile, don’t live long enough for the lesson to stick. So they continuously cross and get shot. Humans erected an invisible barrier. The bison adapted where the wolves, arguably the more intelligent creature, did not, in part due to the latter’s short lifespan. The best of both worlds would be a long-lived polygamous creature that’s constantly reproducing. Ecology, however, proscribes limits on that approach.