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Tag Archives: Evolution 101
Evolutionary Trade-offs
This Evol 101 post is by MSU grad student Tyler Derr Before even jumping into the evolutionary biology material, what is a trade-off? Well, a trade-off is when a choice must be made between multiple things that are either incompatible or an … Continue reading
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Tagged Biological Evolution, Evolution 101
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Exaptation
This Evol 101 post is by MSU grad student Alex Lalejini A Conceptual Analogy Technological innovations throughout the history of human invention are often the result of co-opting an existing technology to develop something new. The invention of the microwave depended on … Continue reading
Culture, Sociality, & Evolution
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU grad student Alex Lalejini Culture and Chimpanzees Our species is incredibly social, and one of the major products of our sociality is culture. People typically imagine culture to be exclusive to humans. The idea … Continue reading
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Tagged animal behavior, Cooperation, Evolution 101
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Genetic Drift
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU grad student Ali Tehrani Darwinian evolution suggests that the pattern of changes in populations is driven by natural selection, i.e. those individuals that are more fit survive and reproduce. Does that mean populations of … Continue reading
Evolution of Reliable Signals
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU grad student Thassyo Pinto The ownership of goods such as luxury cars, expensive boats and conspicuous consumption, and showing it off to others, transmits a signal informing that owner is capable of bearing expenses. … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution 101
Tagged animal behavior, Evolution 101, fitness, predator-prey, sexual selection
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It’s a (Selective) Sweep for the Good Genes!
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU grad student Douglas Kirkpatrick In baseball, ice hockey, and basketball, when a team wins all of the games in a playoff series, they are said to have swept the other team out of the … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution 101
Tagged antibiotic resistance, Biological Evolution, Evolution 101, genetics, genomics, mutations
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Evolution 101 – Mutations: From the X-Men to the X-Chromosome
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU grad student Douglas Kirkpatrick Everyone knows what mutation is, right? It’s that magical scientific hand-wave that gives the X-Men their powers. Almost certainly the result of interaction with gamma radiation or toxic substances, mutation … Continue reading
Evolution 101: Group Selection
This week’s Evolution 101 post is by MSU graduate student Thomas LaBar. Many organisms live and interact within groups. Beehives, wolf packs, and bird flocks are just a few of the groups that exist in the natural world. Humans also … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution 101
Tagged altruism, animal behavior, Evolution 101, group selection, kin selection
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Evolution 101: Digital Evolution
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU graduate student Armand Burks. When scientists study the process of evolution in living organisms, two of the key limiting factors are that of time and the amount of data available. In practice, it … Continue reading
Evolution 101: Beauty is in the Genes of the Beholder
This Evolution 101 post is by MSU graduate student Anselmo Pontes. What do you think when you see a woman painfully balancing on sky-high heels? How about when you overhear the lame pick up lines guys come up with to … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution 101
Tagged competition, Evolution 101, female choice, sexual selection
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