4 ms·
Are we seeing 1 A random mutation that is “testing the waters” if this brings some evolutionary benefits? 2 A mutation that already provides a benefit? (Which
by ano-ther 2y ago
Are we seeing
1 A random mutation that is “testing the waters” if this brings some evolutionary benefits?
2 A mutation that already provides a benefit? (Which one would that be?)
3 A mutation that is neutral and is neither beneficial nor detrimental?
- zdragnar 2y agoIt exists in all fetuses but disappears after a point in development (or, as appears to be increasingly common, does not disappear). Rather than look for genetic mutations as the cause (highly improbable given the time range) it is almost certainly an environmental trigger: mothers getting better nutrition during pregnancy.
- JadeNB 2y agoI think that's an excessively intentionalist view of evolution. Evolution doesn't test the waters, in the sense that it inhibits a harmful mutation from happening again, nor are mutations likely to be purely good or bad; mutations are random changes, and are (definitionally) more likely to be passed on if they increase reproductive fitness, and that's about it.