Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T11:29:24.782Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The cost of phenotypic evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Brian Charlesworth*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QG, U.K.

Abstract

Formulae are developed for the fraction of the population that must be eliminated by selection in each generation in order to account for a given rate of evolution in a metrical trait. A combination of directional and stabilizing selection is assumed. The effects of competition based on phenotypic value are also considered. The formulae are applied to data on evolutionary rates and their variances. It is concluded that most selective elimination is due to stabilizing selection, and that even very rapid evolutionary change in a single character usually involves low levels of additional elimination. It is suggested that long-sustained evolutionary trends are unlikely to be caused either by gradual change of the optimum under stabilizing selection or by the effects of competitive selection in favor of extreme individuals. It is possible that genetic correlations between traits under selection may limit the response of a single trait to directional selection and hence produce very gradual change.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

Atchley, W. R., Rutledge, J. J., and Cowley, D. E. 1981. Genetic components of size and shape. II. Multivariate covariance patterns in the rat and mouse skull. Evolution 35:10371055.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boag, P. T. and Grant, P. R. 1981. Intense natural selection in a population of Darwin's finches (Geospizinae) in the Galapagos. Science. 214:8284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boucot, A. J. 1976. Rates of size increase and of phyletic evolution. Nature. 261:694695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulmer, M. G. 1972. The genetic variability of polygenic characters under optimising selection, mutation and drift. Genet. Res. 19:1725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulmer, M. G. 1980. The Mathematical Theory of Quantitative Genetics. Oxford Univ. Press; Oxford.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, B. 1984. Some quantitative methods for studying evolutionary patterns in single characters. Paleobiology. 10:308318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charlesworth, B., Lande, R., and Slatkin, M. 1982. A Neo-Darwinian commentary on macroevolution. Evolution. 36:474478.Google ScholarPubMed
Cheverud, J. M. 1982. Phenotypic, genetic and environmental morphological integration. Evolution. 36:499516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cronin, J. E., Boaz, N. T., Stringer, C. B., and Rak, Y. 1981. Tempo and mode in hominid evolution. Nature. 292:113122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, J. F. 1958. Some possibilities for measuring selection intensities in man. Hum. Biol. 30:113.Google ScholarPubMed
Crow, J. F. 1970. Genetic loads and the cost of natural selection. Pp. 128177. In: Kojima, K., ed. Mathematical Topics in Population Genetics. Springer-Verlag; Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crow, J. F. and Kimura, M. 1970. An Introduction to Population Genetics Theory. Harper & Row; New York.Google Scholar
Ewens, W. J. 1979. Mathematical Population Genetics. Springer-Verlag; Berlin.Google Scholar
Falconer, D. S. 1981. An Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. (2d ed.). Longman; London.Google Scholar
Fisher, R. A. 1930. The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. Oxford Univ. Press; Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. J. and Eldredge, N. 1977. Punctuated equilibria: the tempo and mode of evolution reconsidered. Paleobiology. 3:115151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haldane, J. B. S. 1932. The Causes of Evolution. Harper & Row; New York.Google Scholar
Haldane, J. B. S. 1954. The measurement of selection. Proc. 9th Intl. Cong. Genet. (Caryologia, Suppl. 6):480487.Google Scholar
Haldane, J. B. S. 1957. The cost of natural selection. J. Genet. 55:511524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallam, A. 1975. Evolutionary size increase and longevity in Jurassic bivalves and ammonites. Nature. 258:493495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, C. 1976. Introduction to Natural Selection. Univ. Park Press; Baltimore.Google Scholar
Kimura, M. 1983. The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution. Cambridge Univ. Press; Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimura, M. and Crow, J. F. 1978. Effect of overall phenotypic evolution on genetic change at individual loci. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 75:61686171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimura, M. and Ohta, T. 1971. Theoretical Aspects of Population Genetics. Princeton Univ. Press; Princeton.Google ScholarPubMed
Lande, R. 1975. The maintenance of genetic variability by mutation in a polygenic character with linked loci. Genet. Res. 26:221235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lande, R. 1976. Natural selection and random genetic drift in phenotypic evolution. Evolution. 30:314334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lande, R. 1979. Quantitative genetic analysis of multivariate evolution, applied to brain:body size allometry. Evolution. 33:402416.Google ScholarPubMed
Lande, R. 1980a. Genetic variation and phenotypic evolution during allopatric speciation. Am. Nat. 116:463479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lande, R. 1980b. Sexual dimorphism, sexual selection and adaptation in polygenic characters. Evolution. 34:292307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lande, R. and Arnold, S. J. 1984. The measurement of selection on correlated characters. Evolution 37:12101226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Latter, B. D. H. 1970. Selection in finite populations with multiple alleles. II. Centripetal selection, mutation and isoallelic variation. Genetics. 66:165186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maynard Smith, J. 1968. “Haldane's dilemma” and the rate of evolution. Nature. 29:11141116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard Smith, J. and Brown, R. W. L. 1985. Competition and body size. Theoret. Pop. Biol. (in press).Google Scholar
Marcus, L. F. 1964. Measurement of selection in natural populations. Nature. 202:10331034.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newell, N. D. 1949. Phyletic size increase, an important trend illustrated by fossil invertebrates. Evolution. 3:103124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Donald, P. 1968. Measuring the intensity of stabilising selection. Nature. 220:197198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Donald, P. 1969. “Haldane's dilemma” and the rate of natural selection. Nature. 221:815816.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Donald, P. 1970. Change of fitness by natural selection for a quantitative character. Theor. Pop. Biol. 1:219232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Donald, P. 1971. Natural selection for quantitative characters. Heredity. 27:137153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson, E. C. and Miller, R. L. 1958. Morphological Integration. Univ. Chicago Press; Chicago.Google Scholar
Pearson, K. 1903. Mathematical contributions to the theory of evolution. XI. On the influence of natural selection on the variability and correlation of organs. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. 200A:166.Google Scholar
Rensch, B. 1959. Evolution above the Species Level. Columbia Univ. Press; New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rightmire, G. P. 1981. Patterns in the evolution of Homo erectus. Paleobiology. 7:241246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, G. G. 1953. The Major Features of Evolution. Columbia Univ. Press; New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1979. Macroevolution: Pattern and Process. W. H. Freeman; San Francisco.Google Scholar
Stanley, S. M. 1982. Macroevolution and the fossil record. Evolution. 36:460473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sved, J. A. 1968. Possible rates of gene substitution in evolution. Am. Nat. 102:283292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Valen, L. 1963. Selection in natural populations: Merychippus primus, a fossil horse. Nature. 197:11811183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Valen, L. 1965. Selection in natural populations. III. Measurement and estimation. Evolution. 19:514528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, B. 1970. Genetic Load; Its Biological and Conceptual Aspects. Prentice-Hall; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.Google Scholar
Williamson, P. G. 1981. Palaeontological documentation of speciation in Cenozoic molluscs from Turkana Basin. Nature. 293:437443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. 1935. Evolution in populations in approximate equilibrium. J. Genet. 30:257266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar