ANT211H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Parthenogenesis, The Selfish Gene, Hymenoptera
Document Summary
Where animals vary, and where those variations are at least partly inherited, the less successful varieties will be eliminated, and the more successful will become relatively numerous. A successful organisms traits must be passed on to descendents. Those descendents must reach maturity and reproduce. The study of behavior based on darwinian paradigm. Basis in population genetics and evolutionary theory. Natural selection allows us to answer to why questions of human behavior. Survival is relevant only in the service of reproduction. Being fit in biology means reproductive success. Can be estimated numerically to predict the rate at which genes are eliminated or spread over generations. Is specific to a particular population at a particular time. Is a function of the environment and even of the particular set of other genes at other loci within the same organism. Reproductive restraint protects a species form population crashes that follow unrestrained growth & the exhaustion of resources.
