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Fluctuating rates of evolution

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Summary

Constant evolutionary rates are possible only in verylarge populations, where natural selection does not exhaust varition because mutation supplies fresh variability. In a small population where a small number of genes influence an integrated system like brain and body size which have an allometric relationship, variation is removed rapidly under natural selection, This occurs even when the final fitness of the population is not optimal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biometry Section, Waite Agricultural Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, 5064, Australia

    O. Mayo & T. W. Hancock

Authors
  1. O. Mayo
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  2. T. W. Hancock
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Mayo, O., Hancock, T.W. Fluctuating rates of evolution. Experientia 41, 1080–1082 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01952154

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