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EVOLUTIONARY CONSTRAINT AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
Author(s) -
Futuyma Douglas J.
Publication year - 2010
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.1558-5646.2010.00960.x
Subject(s) - biology , evolutionary biology , divergence (linguistics) , adaptation (eye) , variation (astronomy) , constraint (computer aided design) , ephemeral key , ecology , phylogenetic tree , conservatism , phylogenetic comparative methods , evolutionary dynamics , organism , niche , gene , genetics , mechanical engineering , population , philosophy , linguistics , physics , demography , neuroscience , sociology , politics , astrophysics , law , political science , engineering
One of the most important shifts in evolutionary biology in the past 50 years is an increased recognition of sluggish evolution and failures to adapt, which seem paradoxical in view of abundant genetic variation and many instances of rapid local adaptation. I review hypotheses of evolutionary constraint (or restraint), and suggest that although constraints on individual characters or character complexes may often reside in the structure or paucity of genetic variation, organism‐wide stasis, as described by paleontologists, might better be explained by a hypothesis of ephemeral divergence, according to which the spatial or temporal divergence of populations is often short‐lived because of interbreeding with nondivergent populations. Among the many consequences of acknowledging evolutionary constraints, community ecology is being transformed as it takes into account phylogenetic niche conservatism and the strong imprint of deep history.