tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495252248554858744.post577794352090258659..comments2024-02-21T21:14:26.819-08:00Comments on Experimental Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour (EXEB): Reflections on lab meeting this weekAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03175724495725111574noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2495252248554858744.post-50730224830841939822009-04-01T08:19:00.000-07:002009-04-01T08:19:00.000-07:00The importance of mechanisms, I think, is that the...The importance of mechanisms, I think, is that they might inform us about the costs of achieving some "optimal" solution. For instance,selection might not necessarily favour an adaptive behaviour, because the costs in terms of e. g. an extensive neurobiological machinery might outweigh the fitness benefits. <BR/><BR/>These costs we might only be able to understand if we also investigate the mechanisms behind current adaptions. That is one, out of several good arguments, why evolutionary biologists should pay attention also to mechanisms and not treat them as a "black box".<BR/><BR/>Take, for instance, the famous "G-matrix". This is a statistical description of variances and covariances between traits AT THE POPULATION LEVEL. It does not, in itself, tells us anything about the mechanisms behind (say) genetic correlations (pleiotropy, linkage) or the developmental basis of trait correlations. The G-matrix is thus a pattern, that might reflect a multitude of different mechanistic underlying processes.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03175724495725111574noreply@blogger.com