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NOT ONLY RANDOM VARIATION. “Differences in the diets and conditions of fish living at the bottom and in open water have induced distinct body forms, which seem to be evolving reproductive isolation, a stage in forming new species. The number of species in a lineage does not depend solely on how random genetic variation is winnowed through different environmental sieves. It also hangs on developmental properties that contribute to the lineage’s ‘evolvability’.” https://lnkd.in/gninbRv View in LinkedIn

NICHE ADAPTATION CAUSES SPECIATION. “Studies of fish, birds, amphibians and insects suggest that adaptations that were, initially, environmentally induced may promote colonization of new environments and facilitate speciation. Some of the best-studied examples of this are in fishes, such as sticklebacks and Arctic char.” https://lnkd.in/gninbRv View in LinkedIn

PLASTICITY FIRST. “The key finding here is that plasticity not only allows organisms to cope in new environmental conditions but to generate traits that are well-suited to them. If selection preserves genetic variants that respond effectively when conditions change, then adaptation largely occurs by accumulation of genetic variations that stabilize a trait after its first appearance. In other words, often it is the trait that comes first; genes that cement it follow, sometimes several generations late.” https://lnkd.in/gninbRv View in LinkedIn

IMPORTANCE OF PLASTICITY. “Standard Evolutionary Theory views this plasticity as merely fine-tuning, or even noise. The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis sees it as a plausible first step in adaptive evolution.” http://www.nature.com/news/does-evolutionary-theory-need-a-rethink-1.16080 View in LinkedIn

NICHE GUIDED SELECTION. “Another kind of developmental bias occurs when individuals respond to their environment by changing their form — a phenomenon called plasticity. For instance, leaf shape changes with soil water and chemistry.” http://www.nature.com/news/does-evolutionary-theory-need-a-rethink-1.16080 View in LinkedIn

DEVELOPMENTAL GUIDED SELECTION. “A more succinct hypothesis is that developmental bias and natural selection work together. Rather than selection being free to traverse across any physical possibility, it is guided along specific routes opened up by the processes of development.” http://www.nature.com/news/does-evolutionary-theory-need-a-rethink-1.16080 View in LinkedIn

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OLD PARADIGM. “Standard Evolutionary Theory explains such parallels as convergent evolution: similar environmental conditions select for random genetic variation with equivalent results. This account requires extraordinary coincidence to explain the multiple parallel forms that evolved independently in each lake.” http://www.nature.com/news/does-evolutionary-theory-need-a-rethink-1.16080 View in LinkedIn

“NATURE’S ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE #4:  Energy Flows Within Nature Using Complex Networks.” https://lnkd.in/ga-TtUt View in LinkedIn

MAIN LINE THINKING. “According to such models, all individuals within a species resemble each other because they descend from a single ancestor that bested its siblings by virtue of some beneficial mutation (or sequence of mutations)—fixing not only the favored mutation but the entire genome in which it first occurred. (Microbiologists vigorously debate the applicability of species concepts developed by animal and plant biologists, as if the concepts themselves were clear.” https://lnkd.in/djKBnru View in LinkedIn