Stuart McLachlan
stuart at lexacorp.com.pg
Sun Apr 22 16:38:45 CDT 2012
It's even more nuanced that that. If a random mutation is favourable within the existing environmental conditions, those possessing the mutation will either survive to breed longer or breed more successfully that those without it. In either case they will have above average numbers of offspring, even if only marginally. Over time that above average number of offspring will mean that more and more of the population contain the mutation, eventually completely displacing those without it. The converse applied to disadvantageous mutations. It is also worth noting that a change in environmental conditions can turn a "bad" mutation ito a "good" one and vice versa (or turn a "good" or "bad" mutation into a neutral one). -- Stuart On 22 Apr 2012 at 15:20, Arthur Fuller wrote: > I don't think that your description of evolution is correct. It is a > process by which a species adapts, but those adaptations are by and large > random changes. Some of them survive and procreate, others do not.