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COMPOSITE TRAITS, SELECTION RESPONSE, AND EVOLUTION
Author(s) -
Riska Bruce
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1989.tb02567.x
Subject(s) - biology , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , allometry , quantitative genetics , divergence (linguistics) , brain size , natural selection , phylogenetic comparative methods , population , genetic variation , ecology , genetics , phylogenetic tree , gene , machine learning , computer science , demography , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , sociology
It is very difficult to relate macroevolutionary patterns to the microevolutionary processes described by quantitative‐genetic models. Quantitative‐genetic parameters are statistical abstractions. Their long‐term significance and evolution might be understood if they can be related to development, physiology, and other biological properties. Most continuous traits are composites of other traits that may contribute differentially to selection response and long‐term divergence. The operation of selection on continuous traits can be indirect, with intermediate optima caused by correlated fitness components. Few realistic models are available, and heritable maternal effects can further complicate selection response. Examples involving allometry of brain and body size in mammals suggest that prenatal and postnatal growth have contributed differently to body‐size evolution, with different correlated changes in brain size. Several different models could explain these patterns, and interpretation is further complicated by statistical difficulties in comparative biology. Quantitative‐genetic models may become more informative and predictive if variation in their parameters can be explained by developmental and other biological processes that have been shaped by the previous history of the population.