Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pigliucci, Massimo
• Murren, Courtney J
• Schlichting, Carl D

Titel

Phenotypic plasticity and evolution by genetic assimilation

Ist Teil von

• Journal of experimental biology, 2006-06, Vol.209 (Pt 12), p.2362-2367

Ort / Verlag

England

Erscheinungsjahr

2006

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• In addition to considerable debate in the recent evolutionary literature about the limits of the Modern Synthesis of the 1930s and 1940s, there has also been theoretical and empirical interest in a variety of new and not so new concepts such as phenotypic plasticity, genetic assimilation and phenotypic accommodation. Here we consider examples of the arguments and counter-arguments that have shaped this discussion. We suggest that much of the controversy hinges on several misunderstandings, including unwarranted fears of a general attempt at overthrowing the Modern Synthesis paradigm, and some fundamental conceptual confusion about the proper roles of phenotypic plasticity and natural selection within evolutionary theory.