Posted by Walker on May 01, 1998 at 14:38:08:
In Reply to: Found it! posted by rpcman on April 28, 1998 at 15:21:15:
: : There is a journal that publishes these kinds of studies. I'll get the name for you one of these days.
: I think this is it. It is called (of all things!) Evolution. Although it doesn't appear to be online yet, you can get to the titles of the several hundred studies done in the past few years through the link below.
Thanks rpcman.
I have gone through the extensive list of titles on studies
in evolution provided by rpcman at
http://www.bio.net:80/bioarchives/BIO-JOURNALS/EVOLUTION/
As you may recall, I am still looking for documentation of some
experiment that shows evolution to be predictable in some way.
After scanning through these titles my perception is that there are
few if any. I may have missed some through misinterpretation of
the big words that are used. Many, many new words here.
I share some of my observations:
I found these titles humorous or curious in some way,
maybe because I don't understand the terms very well or I'm just sick.
"The Evolution of Mate Preferences for Multiple Sexual Ornaments."
"Differential Costs of a Secondary Sexual Character: An Experimental Test of
the Handicap Principle."
"The Ugly Duckling Turns into a Swan."
"Quantitative Genetics of Sprint Running Speed and Swimming Endurance in
Laboratory House Mice (Mus domesticus)."
"The Fly of the Lords."
"Retrodisplacement of the Oral and Anal Openings in Dendrasterid Sand
Dollars."
" Magpie Host Manipulation by Great Spotted Cuckoos: Evidence for an Avian
Mafia?"
I found these titles interesting for other reasons:
"Deleterious Mutation and the Evolution of Genetic Life Cycles."
" When Does Evolution by Natural Selection Prevent Extinction?"
" Risk of Population Extinction from Fixation of New Deleterious Mutations."
" When Did Eve Live? An Evolutionary Detective Story."
" The Major Transitions of Evolution."
" Translating between Microevolutionary Process and Macroevolutionary
Patterns: The Correlation Structure of Interspecific Data."
I found most of the titles followed this pattern: X (pattern or behavior)
observed in Y (species) illustrating Z (concept) as in this one for example:
"Color-Pattern Variation in Lake Erie Water Snakes: The Role of Gene Flow."
I found frequent mention of this species "Drosophila melanogaster"
in the list of titles. What is it and why is it studied so often?
Here are a few that sounded like possibilities of what I am looking for. Please
comment if you are familiar with these or know of any other study
which deals with the predictability of evolution. (Not simply that evolution
will happen -- not very useful) Predictions of how, when and why
specific examples of evolution (not gene shift) will happen.
"Phylogenies without Fossils."
"Natural Heritabilities: Can They Be Reliably Estimated in the Laboratory?"
"Correlated Rates of Molecular and Morphological Evolution."
"Unpredictability of Correlated Response to Selection: Linkage and Initial
Frequency Also Matter."
These really don't sound very promising -- as far as showing predictability
of evolution. But perhaps that is of little concern.
Chris says, "Science doesn't do proof--that's mathematics. Science only deals with evidence and
experimentation to reach its conclusions. You are asking for more than science can offer--even
Newton's Laws (which definitely aren't universal, by the way)."
I always liked Newton's laws because they are so powerful in terms of
predicting what will happen in the future. Every day we can make predictions
that come true. Because of them (modify them for Einstien if you like)
the sun rises, Planets move, if I throw a rock, it will follow a path
predetermined by gravitational laws, every time. You simply can't deny it.
Is anyone uncomfortable with stating a distinction between evolution and
other sciences in terms of predictability? It certainly doesn't mean that
evolution is less true, just less provable. Nature simply doesn't afford
the luxury of predictability to evolution that it does to other
sciences.
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