Eli5: why do some species adapt faster than others?
In: 3
Environmental pressures, faster rate of regeneration such as bacterial growth whereas humans are only able to produce offspring every nine months, change in environment. For species in the wild it is simply evolve or die.
generation length, the less time between generations, the quicker mutations can build up or be weeded out. don’t quote me on this part, but with bacteria i think genome instability can also push evolution.
Well since species adapt to their environment through evolution and evolution occurs within species and not individuals this means that new offspring have to occur for evolution to occur. Every offspring is genetically different to both of its parents due to mutations. Offspring also change the allele frequency (the frequency of the different versions of genes) in a population. If the pressure is there then individuals who are not as “fit” for their environment will be weeded out (natural selection) as they won’t pass on their genes or won’t pass them on as much as the more “fit” individuals. A lot of people misunderstand fit in evolution and think it means big, strong, etc. It just means outproduce. If being shorter and weaker increases your chances of producing successful offspring then that’s fit.
So, the shorter period of time a species generations are then the more the above occurs.
One thing that factors into it is the speed at which the species reproduces. Humans won’t evolve as fast as say, mice, because it takes about 15 years before they can reproduce (on the short side) whereas mice can do that in a matter of weeks.
Another factor is what is causing the need for evolution. If there are no issues, there is no need for evolution, but if something catastrophic occurs and the need arises, those with the needed traits will be more likely to survive and pass on those new or rare traits.
Latest Answers