Evolution

I have recently criticized British geneticist Steve Jones for his claim that modern human societies are no longer subject to natural selection. My arguments were based on basic principles of evolution and population genetics. Now a new study shows that Jones is wrong on the basis of the available empirical evidence and, ironically, that evidence comes from research on the British population! The paper in question was published by Daniel Nettle and Thomas Pollet, of Newcastle University, in the prestigious journal American Naturalist (November 2008). Nettle and Pollet took advantage…

Spore was released the day before my birthday so you can bet it was on my wish list.  Wil Wright has made some great games (Sim City) and then some clunkers.  He made The Sims, which I never played, because watching myself walk around my house in a game is even less exciting than watching myself do it in real life. But there's no question Wright had ambitious plans for this, and it's my type of game.   I am a strategy game guy more than the modern shooters and real-time tank-rush type games.   I am probably a product of my age.  I'd live my life turn-based if I could…

Is Spore meant to be just a game, with no suggestion that it has scientific content?

In support of my hypothesis that PZ Myers had several clones of himself produced so that he could travel all around while still teaching courses, I noted a poster on my way to the lab yesterday that indicates that he will be in Guelph on Saturday Nov. 1, speaking in Thornbrough 1200 at 2 pm. Cost will be $2 (that's a bargain -- only $1.60 US!). This time I will actually try to attend, having skipped the Evolution 2008 conference in his part of the world.

The current issue of Science features a new installment of "The Gonzo Scientist" by writer John Bohannon. This edition is all about Spore, the game that is based on "evolution" from primordial ooze to interstellar society [Flunking Spore]. I had heard about the game on blogs, but I had not really planned to play it until John asked a few of us to give our perspective on the science behind it. I can't say I didn't have fun with this, although it is a shame that the game bears little relation to actual evolution (see here for apparent claims otherwise). Here's the creature Niles Eldredge and I…

My colleagues Chris Organ and Andrew Shedlock, who provided evidence that theropod dinosaurs already had (somewhat) reduced genome sizes prior to the evolution of birds (Organ et al. 2007) have followed up their study by estimating the genome sizes of several species of pterosaurs. Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve powered flight, having taken to the air 70 million years before birds and 150 million years prior to bats. Interestingly (though perhaps not surprisingly at this point), they seem to have possessed reduced genome sizes, and these downsizings of DNA amount began before…

I was planning to wait until the issue was actually in print, or at least until all the articles were available in preprint, but there is already some buzz starting so here it is. The upcoming issue of Evolution: Education and Outreach, of which I was editor, is a special issue dedicated to eye evolution. The table of contents: Evolution: Education and OutreachVolume 1 Issue 4The evolution of eyesEdited by T. Ryan Gregory Editorial 1. Introduction by T. Ryan Gregory 2. Casting an Eye on Complexity by Niles Eldredge Original science / evolution reviews 3. The Evolution of Complex Organs by T.…

The journal Evolution: Education and Outreach is coming out with an issue devoted to the evolution of the eye, and some of the articles are already online. This journal is non-technical, aimed at both teachers and interested science readers, so you don't have to be a biologist to make sense of these articles. Among the pieces is one by science writer Carl Zimmer, who articles are always worth a read. And be sure to take a look at Ryan Gregory's intro to the special issue. The TOC so far: 1. Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence 2. Evolution of Insect Eyes: Tales of Ancient…

Of course not. Then why do we have advocates of intelligent design pseudoscience evaluating the Texas state science standards for evolution? Among the intelligent design proponents evaluating the Texas science curriculum is Stephen Meyer, an armchair non-scientist who has proven over and over that he doesn't grasp even the basics of the theory he claims to be so astutely criticizing. From the Dallas Morning News: Social conservatives on the State Board of Education have appointed three evolution critics to a six-member committee that will review proposed curriculum standards for science…

The stickleback fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus, is one of the most thoroughly studied organisms in the wild, and has been a particularly useful model for understanding variation in physiology, behavior, life history and morphology caused by different ecological situations in the wild. On biological levels from molecular and genetic to developmental and morphological, and finally ending with the population level, it has proven far more complex than even imagined. Studies of stickleback have provided us with a much better understanding of how organisms cope with new environmental conditions,…