(December 16, 2019 at 3:40 pm)Alex K Wrote:(December 16, 2019 at 1:54 pm)maxolla Wrote: I believe you are referring to mutation not evolution.
It seems like a better term for these observed changes would be mutation not evolution.
No, mutations are one of the drivers of the evolution observed here, evolution by natural selection is when these mutations spread in the population bc they are advantageous, and lead to new properties of the organisms.
The best way I've heard this explained is that mutation is the raw material on which evolution operates. I was told to imagine a rockslide damming a small stream. Eventually, a new pond ecosystem would form. The rockslide is the mutation and the ecosystem is the resultant evolution.
Made sense 40 years ago, makes sense now.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
