English
 
Help Privacy Policy Disclaimer
  Advanced SearchBrowse

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT
 
 
DownloadE-Mail
  Using Microevolution to explain the macroevolutionary observations for the evolution of sex

Becks, L., & Alavi, Y. (2015). Using Microevolution to explain the macroevolutionary observations for the evolution of sex. In E. Serrelli, & N. Gontier (Eds.), Macroevolution: Explanation, Interpretation and Evidence (Online, pp. 279-299). Schweiz: Springer International Publishing. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-15045-1_8.

Item is

Files

show Files
hide Files
:
Becks_Alavi_2015.pdf (Publisher version), 435KB
 
File Permalink:
-
Name:
Becks_Alavi_2015.pdf
Description:
-
OA-Status:
Visibility:
Restricted (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, MPLM; )
MIME-Type / Checksum:
application/pdf
Technical Metadata:
Copyright Date:
-
Copyright Info:
-
License:
-

Locators

show
hide
Description:
-
OA-Status:

Creators

show
hide
 Creators:
Becks, Lutz1, Author           
Alavi, Yasaman, Author
Affiliations:
1Research Group Community Dynamics, Department Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Society, ou_1445642              

Content

show
hide
Free keywords: Evolution of sex; Geographic parthenogenesis; Phylogenetic distribution; Origin of sexual reproduction; Maintenance of sexual reproduction; fresh-water snail; red-queen; mutation accumulation; transposable elements; natural-selection; geographic parthenogenesis; potamopyrgus-antipodarum; antagonistic coevolution; deleterious mutations; population-structure
 Abstract: Macroevolution deals with large-scale and complex changes such as the rise of species, mass extinctions, and evolutionary trends. Microevolution describes evolutionary change within a species with changes in allele or genotype frequencies over short time periods. The separation of the two processes is somewhat arbitrary however, as macroevolution is the accumulation of a number of microevolutionary changes leading over time to large-scale changes. As a consequence, understanding macroevolution requires understanding microevolutionary processes. In this chapter we discuss this link between macro- and micro-evolution using the example of the evolution of sexual reproduction. Explaining the evolution of sexual reproduction is one of the most puzzling problems in evolutionary biology and despite ongoing research a general explanation for the evolution and maintenance of sex has not yet been widely confirmed. Sexual reproduction has been suggested to have evolved only once from asexual reproduction during the early stages of the eukaryote evolution. Today, we find that almost all animals and plants reproduce sexually rather than asexually, suggesting that sex is advantageous. There are, however, exemptions from the macroevolutionary observation of the ubiquity of sexual reproduction: asexual taxa are found across almost the whole phylogenetic tree in a twig-like pattern, and these asexual taxa are found in habitats where related sexual taxa are often absent. The evolution of sex, with all its superlatives such as ‘the queen of evolutionary problems’ and the ‘evolutionary scandals’ of the ancient asexuals, is probably one of the fields in evolutionary biology, where already early on macroevolutionary patterns were directly related to microevolutionary processes. Examples of the literature are reviewed here with an emphasis on the link between macro- and microevolution.

Details

show
hide
Language(s): eng - English
 Dates: 20152015
 Publication Status: Issued
 Pages: -
 Publishing info: -
 Table of Contents: -
 Rev. Type: -
 Identifiers: DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-15045-1_8
 Degree: -

Event

show

Legal Case

show

Project information

show

Source 1

show
hide
Title: Macroevolution: Explanation, Interpretation and Evidence
Source Genre: Book
 Creator(s):
Serrelli, Emanuele, Editor
Gontier, Nathalie, Editor
Affiliations:
-
Publ. Info: Schweiz : Springer International Publishing, Online
Pages: 20 S. Volume / Issue: 2 Sequence Number: - Start / End Page: 279 - 299 Identifier: ISSN: 2199-3068
ISBN: 978-3-319-15045-1
ISBN: 978-3-319-15044-4