Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with naturalselection

What's not working yet in the Theory of Natural Selection?

dpcoffin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:13:53 -0800

When current/recent SCIENCE challenges Darwin, what does it say? I'm a layman interested to hear what not-Creationist, not-ID, not-paranormal challengers (or boundary-pushers) to natural selection might be exploring these days, explained for general readers… "13 Things that Don't Make Sense: The Darwin Version!" would be perfect. Failing that, are there any book/lecture summaries, web-sites, authors, etc. out there trying to let the person on the street know what some or any serious-science folk might feel is resisting explanation by, or still not quite fitting into, natural selection as the sole mechanism for the shaping of life forms and the building of symbiotic relationships?

There appear to be plenty of "How it all works" writings; are there any "Here's what doesn't quite work yet" books, chapters, footnotes, etc., either from within the ranks, or from other mainstream scientific disciplines?

Or perhaps: What are the still-unsolved, bleeding-edge aspects of the theory?

Or even: How has the theory had to stretch lately to keep pace with new findings?

Thanks!

Getting our rocks off for four billion years

shakespeherian — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:32:51 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good book about the evolution of sexual reproduction? I'm interested in the basic physiological explanation (how did single-cell organisms lead to sexually binary species, etc), big-picture explanations (why is sexual reproduction advantageous as opposed to asexual reproduction, etc), and maybe a good overview of the differing sexual characteristics of disparate species the world over (four-headed echidna penises, etc). Caveat: I have hardly any scientific background, so too-technical books aren't great, although I am a pretty fast learner if the book makes a decent effort (I made it through DFW's Everything and More despite not having done any math since high school calculus).

I've seen this question but I'm more interested in getting a whole dang book than just receiving answers to particular questions.

Will someone be missing breakfast?

Optamystic — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 21:23:43 -0800

As I type this, my lovely cat is having kittens (literally). I am having a few myself (not literally). I'm a little worried because... ...she only has four, um, mature (?) nipples, but she just had her fifth kitten. And I think there's at least another one in there. Should I be worried about the cuddly little bastards?

How did sexual reproduction evolve?

Orange Goblin — Sun, 06 Jun 2004 04:41:52 -0800

How did we evolve separate genders? I assume it happened pretty early on, since most animals have a male and female, but wouldn't it have had to happen to lots of things at once for it to actually work?

Evolution

Tin Man — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 21:40:56 -0800

How do evolutionary changes occur in biology? Is there some sort of "intelligence" that helps a species adapt, or does a species have to wait for a random mutation to occur that just happens to confer an advantage (a mutation that might never even happen)? For instance, how do bacteria become resistant? And are there different theories on evolutionary changes?