The aspects of development that interest students of life history evolution are. The origin and evolutionary history of life on earth i. Life history evolution introduction life history traits life table size and number of offspring offspring number offspring size senescence. Life history evolution represents a synthetic approach to the understanding of the evolution of life history variation using the three types of environment constant, stochastic, predictable as the focus under which the theory is developed and tested. Evolution is the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. Life history evolution what is life history evolution. It, too, began a growth spurt of sorts with the publication in 1970 of gadgil and bosserts 1970 in.
The evolution of life histories does this by showing that natural selection is the principal underlying force molding life history variation. The human life history is characterized by several unusual features, including large babies, late puberty and menopause, and the fact that there is a strong cultural influence on reproductive decisions throughout life. The genetics and physiology of life history traits and tradeoffs by thomas flatt. Genetic variation for life history traits the evolution of life history traits by natural selection depends upon genetic variation on which. Notes origin and evolution of life and introduction. Mechanisms of life history evolution the genetics and physiology of life history traits and tradeoffs edited by thomas flatt group leader at the institute of population genetics at the vetmeduni vienna, austria andreas heyland assistant professor at the department of integrative biology at the university of guelph, canada 1. The evolution of life histories fitness has several major components. Tradeoffs in life history figure 1 illustrates the essential features of the human life history. The sum of all the alleles of all the members of the population is its gene pool. The evolution of life histories demography of ageing one. Mechanisms of life history evolution hardcover thomas.
It has been powerful in showing that the diverse life histories of different species can be understood as the result of one underlying evolutionary process. For 6 billion years ago there was no earth, and for 10. The challenge for evolutionary biology is to explain how such diversity arises. This approach has been used with great success to predict the evolution of life history traits. Evolutionary ecology of human life history sciencedirect. The book describes in particular the ways in which. Life history strategies, population dynamics, and consequences for supplemental stocking of tarpon kirk o. Life history and evolutionary psychology 2 life history theory and evolutionary psychology the evolution of life is the result of a process in which variant forms compete to harvest energy from the environment and convert it into replicates of those forms. The theory of evolution assumes the existence of life and is directed to an explanation of how life evolved. Flegr encyclopedia of life support systems eolss inheritability of acquired properties, can play a role in certain stages of evolution. The evolutionary history of life on earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present.
Lifehistory theory can proceed apace without knowing these mechanisms, although this theory does use conceptual mechanisms all the time. While life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among species, it traditionally ignores the underlying proximate mechanisms. Evolutionary mechanisms of senescence springerlink. In biology, evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Biology module 1 origin and evolution of life and introduction to classification diversity and evolution of life 4 notes the surrounding solution in the form of what were termed coacervate drops of microscopic size, moving in the liquid with a definite boundary coacervate meansheap referring to the combining together of the molecules. Genetic drift and natural selection introduction a population is a group of individuals of the same species living in the same geographical are that interbreeds freely. The classical theory treats life history evolution as an optimization problem. Puberty as a life history transition harvard university. Although life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among species, it traditionally ignores the underlying proximate mechanisms. The genetics and physiology of life history traits. Today we are saddled with the armchair speculations they dreamed up. Information theory, evolution, and the origin of life. Brief history of evolutionary theory before darwin. The origins of life and the mechanisms of biological evolution.
Oup corrected proof final, 04232011, spi 3 great clarendon street, oxford ox2 6dp oxford university press is a department of the university of oxford. Solving this problem requires an interdisciplinary knowledge and an awareness of conventional theories, especially those related to the origin and evolution of life. Magdalena hurtado our theory is that those four life history characteristics and extreme intelligence are coevolved responses to a dietary shift toward highquality, nutrientdense, and dif. Evolutionary biologyearly history of life on planet earth. Experimentally induced lifehistory evolution in a natural population skip to. This timeline of the evolutionary history of life represents the current scientific theory outlining the major events during the development of life on planet earth. Lifehistory theory can help us identify the genetic and environmental factors that favored the evolution of the unusual human lifehistory, which has changed drastically in the last two centuries. Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analyzing the ecological factors that shape agespecific schedules of growth, reproduction, and survival and by investigating the tradeoffs that constrain the evolution of these traits. Optimization models, quantitative genetics, and mutation, evolution 44. Although there is some evidence of life as early as 4. As the frequency of an allele refers to its frequency in the population, evolution occurs in the population as a whole, and not in individuals. The evolution of human life history school for advanced.
Life does this through metabolism, overtly by eating, drinking, breathing, or the exchange of material, which forms the. Global secure online book evolution the remarkable history of a scientific theorypdf this our library download file free pdf ebook. Since the fittest are those which provide more descendants to future generations than their competitors, and fitness is largely determined by the agedependent schedule of behavior, birth, death, and development rates, life histories are adaptations of unique importance to the analysis of darwinian evolution. Parthenogenesis is the development of an organism from an unfertilized egg. The fitness of organisms is the primary focus of evolutionary biology. Starting from the formation of the universe from simple elements such as hydrogen and helium. Flatt and others published mechanisms of life history evolution. The evolution of life histories life history traits are shaped by differential fecundity and survival. How life abides by the second law of thermodynamics yet evolutionarily complexifies and maintains its intrinsic order is a fundamental mystery in physics, chemistry, and biology. Indeed, to account for the origin of x often means to come up with a history of how x developed from ancestral forms. Diet, intelligence, and longevity hillard kaplan, kim hill, jane lancaster, a.
Although life history theory has made enormous progress in explaining the diversity of life history strategies among. The two cases have in common that there was a time when x did not exist. Original articles life history variables and risktaking propensity x. Aging, biology, culture, evolution, future, human evolution, life history theory, primates. The genetics and physiology of life history traits and tradeoffs 9780199568772. There are many different types of organisms in the world. Chemical conditions of the early earth that could have fostered the origin of life a. Thanks your visit fromevolution the remarkable history of a. Life tables are an easy to use tool to study age dependes of survival and fecundity.
Here, in part 1, is this history prior to the 20th century. Mechanisms of life history evolution vetmeduni vienna. Human evolution, life history theory, and the end of. First evidence for early life the evolution of life extreme life on earth. The greek philosopher aristotle perceived a ladder of life, where simple organisms gradually change to.
Lifehistory theory successfully explains why different species live the lives they do. Mechanisms of life history evolution the genetics and physiology of life history traits and tradeoffs. Theory of the origin, evolution, and nature of life. Environmentally induced variation in body size and other allometric correlates affect fecundity through at least four mechanisms. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as dna and proteins. The genetical information system, because it is linear and digital, resembles the algorithmic language of computers. Timeline of the evolutionary history of life wikipedia. Goethe the theory of spontaneous generation ever since he took the first steps towards a conscious life, man has tried to solve the problems of cosmogony.
Simultaneous hermaphrodites have both male and female sexual functions at the same time. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization, from kingdoms to. Rather consistently, it was the men who lacked scientific ability who invented basic evolutionary theory. Learn history of life evolution biology with free interactive flashcards. The conditions that cause a change in allele frequencies are. The book describes in particular there are many different types of organisms in the world. Experimentally induced lifehistory evolution in a natural. Information theory, evolution, and the origin of life information theoi\ evolution, and the origin of life presents a timely introduction to the use of information theory and coding theory in molecular biology. Extraterrestrial life the origin and evolution of life on earth. First, the author outlines a general framework for the study and analysis of life history variation, bringing together the approaches of. This resulted in significant lifehistory evolution in the predicted direction after 11 years, or 3060 generations. Choose from 500 different sets of history of life evolution biology flashcards on quizlet. History of the theory of evolution the concept of evolution is as ancient as greek writings, where philosophers speculated that all living things are related to one another, although remotely. Throughout primate history there have been three major life history transitions towards increasingly delayed sexual maturation and biological reproduction, as well as towards extended life expectancy.
Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analysing the ecological factors that shape agespecific schedules of. It is very interesting that life began from simple chemical molecules. Overview the formation of earth prebiotic chemistry millerurey exp. The genetics and physiology of life history traits and tradeoffs find, read and cite all the research.
Mechanisms of life history evolution argues that many fundamental problems in life history evolution, including the nature of tradeoffs, can only be fully resolved if we begin to integrate information on developmental, physiological, and genetic mechanisms into the classical life history framework. Sequential hermaphrodites develop first as one sex and later switch to another sex. Wiens5,6 1department of biology, university of texas at arlington, arlington, texas 76019. Life history transitions life history theory or the theory of the evolution of mortality and fertility schedules, was in its infancy at the time that growth at adolescence appeared. That said, how, mechanistically, life histories are controlled and so how they evolve is not known.
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