Mutation, randomness, and evolution / Arlin Stoltzfus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stoltzfus, Arlin, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mutation (Biology).

Evolution (Biology).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 pages) : illustrations (black and white, and colour).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England ; New York, New York : Oxford University Press, [2021]

Summary:

What does it mean to say that mutation is random? How does mutation influence evolution? Are mutations merely the raw material for selection to shape adaptations? The author draws on a detailed knowledge of mutational mechanisms to argue that the randomness doctrine is best understood, not as a fact-based conclusion, but as the premise of a neo-Darwinian research program focused on selection. The successes of this research program created a blind spot - in mathematical models and verbal theories of causation - that has stymied efforts to re-think the role of variation. However, recent theoretical and empirical work shows that mutational biases can and do influence the course of evolution, including adaptive evolution, through a first come, first served mechanism.

Contents:

Introduction: a curious disconnect

Ordinary randomness

Practical randomness

Evolutionary randomness

Mutation mechanisms and evolvability

Randomness as irrelevance

The problem of variation

Climbing mount probable

The revolt of the day

Moving on

Appendix A: Mutation exemplars

Appendix B: Counting the universe of mutations

Appendix C: Tandomness quotations

Appendix D: Irrelevance quotations.

Notes:

This edition also issued in print: 2021.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-19-188006-X

0-19-258296-8

OCLC:

1247674379