Survival of the fittest

[Aroura]

It is indeed interesting how fittest does not necessarily mean strongest.  It is a huge misnomer of evolution anyway.  Biologists don't use it, because it doesn't accurately cover the complexity of natural selection.

I saw some wildlife show about cuttlefish, that showed that the smallest males were often the most successful at mating. The big males would be all puffed up, occupied with keeping other males away from a female they had claimed but had yet to mate with.  The small males would disguise themselves a females, sneak by the big puffed up guy, and have sex with his female.

I was like, you go little dudes!

[downbeatplumb]

So I was at the shop to buy some vegetables and I happened to see a stray dog walk by, quite normal around here but....it made me think about something..

Dogs and cats.. Probably the top losers of their respective groups... If I'm not wrong it's said that dogs are descendants of wolves. Compare a dog to a wolf and the difference is big or compare cats to the "big cats" like lions and tigers and such.. A wolf can probably kill a dozen doggies and a lion can probably kill all the cats in the world if it wanted.

Yet, where is majestic lions and wolves? They'll go extinct..  Dogs and cats will outlast them by a long shot precisely because they can be domesticated and they are capable of living in our industrialized environment. We praise these qualities now yet many years ago they must've been the biggest losers in the animal kingdom eating the leftovers of the "top dogs". But fate took a u turn, it decided to screw the strong and favor the weak. Survival of the fittest? ? time managed to change their weakness into a strength.
Just goes to show even if someone's having a hard time right now and feels like the world's biggest loser with time those weaknesses will turn into strengths. So everybody has a chance.

I just found it pretty amazing. Then I payed the bill and went home.

Dogs and cats are lackeys of the biggest apex predator and have been taken under our benevolent wing.

[Jackie]

It is indeed interesting how fittest does not necessarily mean strongest.  It is a huge misnomer of evolution anyway.  Biologists don't use it, because it doesn't accurately cover the complexity of natural selection.

I saw some wildlife show about cuttlefish, that showed that the smallest males were often the most successful at mating. The big males would be all puffed up, occupied with keeping other males away from a female they had claimed but had yet to mate with.  The small males would disguise themselves a females, sneak by the big puffed up guy, and have sex with his female.

I was like, you go little dudes!

BINGO!   ^^^^^^^^^^^^

And even in humans, you don't have to be 100% healthy to mate and produce offspring. You don't have to be the strongest, all you have to do is get to the point of reproduction.

It has never been about brawn alone, brawn is merely ONE attribute, but not always the most important. Tactics matter too, and and brains and even nurture and trickery are also attributes. There is more than one attribute to evolution and none are more important than the other.

[LastPoet]

Dogs and cats are lackeys of the biggest apex predator and have been taken under our benevolent wing.

Yes, yes, we want you to remain thinking that

[Anomalocaris]

Dogs and cats are lackeys of the biggest apex predator and have been taken under our benevolent wing.

Yes, yes, we want you to remain thinking that

When we humans are extinct, don’t think any of you can survive once you’ve eaten our corpses.

The problem with being such bespoke lackeys is once the master is gone, the next master will have no use for you whatsoever.