Adaptationism and Optimality (original) (raw)

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The debate over the relative importance of natural selection as compared to other forces affecting the evolution of organisms is a long-standing and central controversy in evolutionary biology. The theory of adaptationism argues that natural selection contains sufficient explanatory power in itself to account for all evolution. However, there are differing views about the efficiency of the adaptation model of explanation. If the adaptationism theory is applied, are energy and resources being used to their optimum? This book presents an up-to-date view of this controversy and reflects the dramatic changes in our understanding of evolution that have occurred in the last twenty years. The volume combines contributions from biologists and philosophers, and offers a systematic treatment of foundational, conceptual, and methodological issues surrounding the theory of adaptationism. The essays examine recent developments in topics such as phylogenetic analysis, the theory of optimality and ess models, and methods of testing models.

Contents

Contents

Select Frontmatter

Select Contents

Select Contributors

Select Acknowledgments

Select Introduction

Select 1 - A Likelihood Framework for the Phylogenetic Analysis of Adaptation

Select 2 - Adaptation, Phylogenetic Inertia, and the Method of Controlled Comparisons

Select 3 - Optimality and Phylogeny: A Critique of Current Thought

Select 5 - Optimality and Evolutionary Stability under Short-Term and Long-Term Selection

Select 6 - Selective Regime and Fig Wasp Sex Ratios: Toward Sorting Rigor from Pseudo-Rigor in Tests of Adaptation

Select 7 - Is Optimality Over the Hill? The Fitness Landscapes of Idealized Organisms

Select 8 - Adaptation, Optimality, and the Meaning of Phenotypic Variation in Natural Populations

Select 10 - Adaptation and Development: On the Lack of Common Ground

Select 11 - Three Kinds of Adaptationism

Select 12 - Adaptation, Adaptationism, and Optimality

Select Index

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