Developmental-behavioral initiation of evolutionary change

Psychol Rev. 2002 Apr;109(2):211-8. doi: 10.1037/0033-295x.109.2.211.

Abstract

The traditional approach to evolutionary psychology relies entirely on natural selection as the cause of the evolution of adaptations. Exclusive reliance on natural selection overlooks the fact that changes in development are a necessary prerequisite for evolutionary change. These developmental changes provide the material for natural selection to work on. In the neo-Darwinian scenario, the mechanisms of evolution are mutation or genetic recombination, selection, migration, and eventual reproductive isolation. In the spirit of evolutionary pluralism, the author describes a different 3-stage scenario in which migration (the invasion of new niches or habitats) may occur without mutation or genetic recombination and selection first initiating a change in genes or gene frequencies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Physiological*
  • Animals
  • Behavior*
  • Biological Evolution*
  • Cultural Characteristics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Environment
  • Genetics, Population*
  • Humans
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Movement
  • Phenotype