Shark species may be more cryptic than previously understood
Posted 26 Jun 2012 / 0Nature News “Shark species more diverse than thought“
A Minor Post, SpeciationPeter Turchin on Steven Pinker’s “Grand Deception” hypotheses
Posted 26 Jun 2012 / 0Social Evolution Forum “The ‘Big Mistake’ and ‘Grand Deception’ Hypotheses: Alternatives to CMLS?” These are flaws in Pinker’s arguments that I failed to identify in my own critique, and Turchin prevents some valuable insights. This idea that the human mind can be so easily parasitized or ‘cuckolded’ by ideas is strange, casting ideas and culture as Read More
A Minor Post, Altruism, Belief, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Group Selection, Memetic Fitness, Phenotypic Plasticity, Psychological Adaptation, WebSteven Pinker makes it clear that he is not a “group selectionist”
Posted 26 Jun 2012 / 5Frequently I feel like I am listening to an early 2000’s George W. Bush speech when the ‘opponents of group selection’ step up to the podium. Seemingly, you are either “with us or against us” when it comes to considering selection acting at a level above the individual. As someone who is open to thinking Read More
A Major Post, Adaptation, Coevolution, Cultural Evolution, Group Selection, Kin Selection, Memetic Fitness, Multilevel Selection, Natural Selection, Punishment, WebAre the population dynamics of Dupont’s lark dictated by multilevel selective pressures?
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0A fascinating new paper published this week in the journal PLoS One demonstrates how selection acting at least three different levels produces distinct selective pressures that shape the song behavior of male Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti) in the Ebro Valley of northwestern Spain. Authored by Paola Laiolo and José Ramón Obeso and entitled “Multilevel Selection Read More
A Major Post, Articles, Behavior, Competition, Group Selection, Multilevel Selection, Population GrowthNew study published in Ecology Letters quantifies the effects of intensive agriculture on large-scale biodiversity
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0Ecology Letters “Intensive agriculture erodes β-diversity at large scales“
A Minor Post, Biodiversity LossOnce again David Sloan Wilson defends himself using facts
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0This View of Life “Pugilistic Science“
A Minor PostOnce again Jerry Coyne goes ad hominem to defend evolutionary orthodoxy
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0Why Evolution is True “David Sloan Wilson loses it again” This is the guy who is the Past President of the Society for the Study of Evolution, and he just cannot seem to keep his comments focused on science. There are some really great ideas discussed here, particularly about the nature of selfish genes and the Read More
A Minor Post, Group Selection, Kin Selection, Natural Selection, WebBird study suggests that multilevel selection theory is necessary to understand population dynamics
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “Multilevel Selection and Neighbourhood Effects from Individual to Metapopulation in a Wild Passerine” I am about to dive into a close reading of this paper, but it suggests that perhaps the reason we do not record multilevel selection pressures is in part because we do not go looking for them.
A Minor Post, Birds, Multilevel Selection, Population GrowthIs sexual practice coevolving with our cultural technologies?
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0The Chronicle of Higher Education “Sex 2.0“
A Minor Post, Cultural Evolution, Sex and ReproductionMost people (at least in Spain) recognize the value of ecosystem services, but their valuation varies
Posted 25 Jun 2012 / 0PLoS One “Uncovering Ecosystem Service Bundles through Social Preferences“
A Minor Post, Ecosystem Services