Reduced to its essence, the process of natural selection would look a lot like play.
Articles on On the Origin of Species
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New research on cuckoos suggests the battle between exploiters and victims may be a key reason for life’s enormous diversity.
Evolutionary geneticist Jenny Graves loves classical choral music, but grew tired of its biblical themes. So she set out to write an alternative based in science.
Assuming that natural selection shapes all animal and plant traits is a false impression. Natural selection is a mindless process.
Smart people can have really bad ideas – like selectively breeding human beings to improve the species. Put into practice, Galton’s concept proved discriminatory, damaging, even deadly.
If you go by editorial cartoons and T-shirts, you might have the impression that evolution proceeds as an orderly march toward a preordained finish line. But that’s not right at all.
Evolution doesn’t always take millions of years – sometimes it is very rapid indeed.
Had the young naturalist not made a great discovery about rock formations in the first half of his career, On the Origin of the Species might never have been written.
Top contributors
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Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Earth Sciences, Durham University
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Research associate, University of Bristol
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Senior Researcher in Biodiversity, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC)
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Professor, Australian National University
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Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria
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Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, Liberal Arts, and Philanthropy, Indiana University
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Senior Fellow for Biodiversity Studies, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
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Emeritus Professor, University of Pretoria
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Research Projects Officer, CSIRO
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Jenny Graves is a Friend of The Conversation.
Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Vice Chancellor's Fellow, La Trobe University
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Lecturer in Ecology, The University of Melbourne
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Biologist at the Natural History Museum in Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
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Senior Research Scientist, Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO
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Professor of English, UMass Amherst