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EVOLUTIONARY CONSTRAINT AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
Article first published online: 6 JUL 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00960.x
© 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation © 2010 The Society for the Study of Evolution
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How to Cite
Futuyma, D. J. (2010), EVOLUTIONARY CONSTRAINT AND ECOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES. Evolution, 64: 1865–1884. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00960.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 6 JUL 2010
- Article first published online: 6 JUL 2010
- Received January 8, 2010Accepted January 11, 2010
- Abstract
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- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Community ecology;
- ephemeral divergence;
- evolutionary constraint;
- genetic variation;
- genostasis;
- limits to adaptation;
- phylogenetic conservatism;
- stasis
One of the most important shifts in evolutionary biology in the past 50 years is an increased recognition of sluggish evolution and failures to adapt, which seem paradoxical in view of abundant genetic variation and many instances of rapid local adaptation. I review hypotheses of evolutionary constraint (or restraint), and suggest that although constraints on individual characters or character complexes may often reside in the structure or paucity of genetic variation, organism-wide stasis, as described by paleontologists, might better be explained by a hypothesis of ephemeral divergence, according to which the spatial or temporal divergence of populations is often short-lived because of interbreeding with nondivergent populations. Among the many consequences of acknowledging evolutionary constraints, community ecology is being transformed as it takes into account phylogenetic niche conservatism and the strong imprint of deep history.