Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Published: July 2017
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Article Abstract
Two competing predictions of matching theory and an evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics, and one additional prediction of the evolutionary theory, were tested in a critical experiment in which human participants worked on concurrent schedules for money (Dallery et al., 2005). The three predictions concerned the descriptive adequacy of matching theory equations, and of equations describing emergent equilibria of the evolutionary theory. Tests of the predictions falsified matching theory and supported the evolutionary theory.
AbstractTheoretical studies from diverse areas of population biology have shown that demographic stochasticity can substantially impact evolutionary dynamics in finite populations, including scenarios where traits that are disfavored by natural selection can nevertheless increase in frequency through the course of evolution. Here, we analytically describe the eco-evolutionary dynamics of finite populations from demographic first principles. We investigate how noise-induced effects can alter the evolutionary fate of populations in which total population size may vary stochastically over time.
The evolution of photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) from anoxygenic bacteria to higher-order oxygenic cynobacteria and plants highlights a remarkable journey of structural and functional diversification as an adaptation to environmental conditions. The role of chirality in these centers is important, influencing the arrangement and function of key molecules involved in photosynthesis. Investigating the role of chirality may provide a deeper understanding of photosynthesis and the evolutionary history of life on Earth.
Objectives: Self-domestication theory and preliminary data suggest that western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) could have smaller brains than eastern chimpanzees (P. t. schweinfurthii), but no large-scale studies of chimpanzee endocranial volume (ECV) have tested this.
Adaptive radiations are rich laboratories for exploring, testing, and understanding key theories in evolution and ecology because they offer spectacular displays of speciation and ecological adaptation. Particular challenges to the study of adaptive radiation include high levels of species richness, rapid speciation, and gene flow between species. Over the last decade, high-throughput sequencing technologies and access to population genomic data have lessened these challenges by enabling the analysis of samples from many individual organisms at whole-genome scales.
Different theoretical frameworks have been invoked to guide the study of virus evolution. Three of the more prominent ones are (i) the evolution of virulence, (ii) life history theory, and (iii) the generalism-specialism dichotomy. All involve purported tradeoffs between traits that define the evolvability and constraint of virus-associated phenotypes.
