Quote:
Klvino [ORB] said:
SJ, your example of evolution being non random is an example of forced evolution where if artificially eliminating a large majority of the population, you improve the gene pool. However, there is a flaw in this. Bananas, believe it or not, will more than likely be extinct in all of our life times because humans have pretty much bred all genetic diveristy out of the modern banana. As a result, it can easily be wiped out if a banana-born disease manages to get free.
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I'm sorry. Are you trying to point out that humans are destroying ecodiversity?
We already know that humans are breaking the so-called "natural" patterns with medicine and pollution and clearcutting.
Hell, we've halted the ice age cycle and put people on the moon.
ANYWAYS.
With your typical group of critter, the worst mutations die before birth. The pretty bad ones will die after birth when they can't do basic things nessesary for survival.
Lots of the rest get eaten by predators because they were a little bit slower, a little bit more stupid, or has "lower stats" that contribute to their failure.
In non-social critters, they still have to compete against each other for food. Only the best get to eat consistently, and the rest starve.
In social critters, they still have to compete against each other to attract mates.
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There is a pretty high attrition rate, especially during developmental stages, I'm afraid to say.
Out of all the eggs and embryos, there is an average of just one per parent that survive to breed again in a stable population. That's pretty bad odds.