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What is Free Evolution?

Free evolution is the concept that natural processes can cause organisms to evolve over time. This includes the appearance and development of new species.

This has been demonstrated by numerous examples, including stickleback fish varieties that can be found in fresh or saltwater and walking stick insect species that have a preference for specific host plants. These are mostly reversible traits, however, cannot explain fundamental changes in basic body plans.

Evolution by Natural Selection

Scientists have been fascinated by the development of all living organisms that inhabit our planet for many centuries. Charles Darwin's natural selectivity is the most well-known explanation. This is because people who are more well-adapted are able to reproduce faster and longer than those who are less well-adapted. Over time, the population of individuals who are well-adapted grows and eventually creates a new species.

Natural selection is an ongoing process that involves the interaction of three factors: variation, inheritance and reproduction. Variation is caused by mutations and sexual reproduction both of which enhance the genetic diversity within the species. Inheritance refers the transmission of a person's genetic traits, which include both dominant and recessive genes to their offspring. Reproduction is the process of producing viable, fertile offspring. This can be accomplished by both asexual or sexual methods.

All of these factors must be in harmony to allow natural selection to take place. For example when a dominant allele at a gene allows an organism to live and reproduce more often than the recessive one, the dominant allele will be more common in the population. However, if the allele confers an unfavorable survival advantage or decreases fertility, it will be eliminated from the population. The process is self reinforcing which means that an organism with an adaptive characteristic will live and reproduce much more than those with a maladaptive feature. The more offspring an organism produces, the greater its fitness which is measured by its ability to reproduce itself and live. Individuals with favorable traits, like having a long neck in the giraffe, or bright white patterns on male peacocks, are more likely than others to live and reproduce and eventually lead to them becoming the majority.

Natural selection only affects populations, not on individual organisms. This is a major distinction from the Lamarckian evolution theory which holds that animals acquire traits due to the use or absence of use. For example, if a animal's neck is lengthened by reaching out to catch prey its offspring will inherit a larger neck. The length difference between generations will persist until the neck of the giraffe becomes too long that it can no longer breed with other giraffes.

Evolution by Genetic Drift

Genetic drift occurs when alleles from the same gene are randomly distributed in a group. Eventually, only one will be fixed (become widespread enough to not longer be eliminated through natural selection) and the rest of the alleles will decrease in frequency. This can result in an allele that is dominant in extreme. The other alleles are eliminated, and heterozygosity is reduced to zero. In a small population it could result in the complete elimination of the recessive gene. Such a scenario would be called a bottleneck effect, and it is typical of the kind of evolutionary process that occurs when a large number of individuals migrate to form a new population.

A phenotypic bottleneck could happen when the survivors of a catastrophe like an epidemic or a massive hunting event, are concentrated into a small area. The survivors will share an dominant allele, and will have the same phenotype. This could be the result of a conflict, earthquake or even a cholera outbreak. Regardless of the cause the genetically distinct population that remains could be prone to genetic drift.

Walsh Lewens, Lewens, and Ariew employ Lewens, Walsh and Ariew employ a "purely outcome-oriented" definition of drift as any departure from the expected values for different fitness levels. They cite the famous example of twins who are genetically identical and share the same phenotype. However, one is struck by lightning and dies, but the other lives to reproduce.

This kind of drift can play a very important part in the evolution of an organism. However, it is not the only way to evolve. Natural selection is the primary alternative, in which mutations and migration maintain the phenotypic diversity of a population.

Stephens argues there is a huge distinction between treating drift as an agent or cause and considering other causes, such as migration and selection as causes and forces. Stephens claims that a causal mechanism account of drift permits us to differentiate it from the other forces, and this distinction is crucial. He further argues that drift is both direction, i.e., it tends towards eliminating heterozygosity. It also has a size, which is determined by the size of the population.

Evolution through Lamarckism

Biology students in high school are frequently introduced to Jean-Baptiste Lemarck's (1744-1829) work. His theory of evolution is commonly called "Lamarckism" and it asserts that simple organisms evolve into more complex organisms via the inheritance of characteristics which result from the organism's natural actions use and misuse. Lamarckism is typically illustrated with a picture of a giraffe stretching its neck further to reach the higher branches in the trees. This would result in giraffes passing on their longer necks to their offspring, who then become taller.

Lamarck was a French Zoologist. In his opening lecture for his course on invertebrate zoology held at the Museum of Natural History in Paris on the 17th May 1802, he introduced an original idea that fundamentally challenged previous thinking about organic transformation. In his view living things evolved from inanimate matter through the gradual progression of events. Lamarck was not the only one to suggest that this could be the case but he is widely seen as being the one who gave the subject its first general and comprehensive analysis.

The prevailing story is that Lamarckism grew into an opponent to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection and that the two theories battled it out in the 19th century. Darwinism ultimately won, leading to what biologists call the Modern Synthesis. The theory denies that acquired characteristics are passed down from generation to generation and instead, it claims that organisms evolve through the influence of environment elements, like Natural Selection.

Lamarck and his contemporaries believed in the idea that acquired characters could be passed on to the next generation. However, this notion was never a major part of any of their theories about evolution. This is due in part to the fact that it was never validated scientifically.


It has been more than 200 years since the birth of Lamarck and in the field of age genomics there is a growing body of evidence that supports the heritability acquired characteristics. This is often called "neo-Lamarckism" or, more often epigenetic inheritance. It is a version of evolution that is as relevant as the more popular Neo-Darwinian model.

Evolution by the process of adaptation

One of the most common misconceptions about evolution is that it is being driven by a struggle to survive. This view is inaccurate and overlooks other forces that drive evolution. The struggle for survival is more accurately described as a struggle to survive within a specific environment, which could involve not only other organisms, but also the physical environment itself.

To understand how evolution operates it is beneficial to think about what adaptation is. Adaptation refers to any particular feature that allows an organism to survive and reproduce within its environment. It can be a physical structure, like feathers or fur. Or it can be a characteristic of behavior, like moving into the shade during hot weather, or escaping the cold at night.

The capacity of a living thing to extract energy from its surroundings and interact with other organisms and their physical environment is essential to its survival. The organism must possess the right genes to produce offspring and to be able to access sufficient food and resources. The organism should be able to reproduce at the rate that is suitable for its specific niche.

These elements, in conjunction with mutation and gene flow, lead to changes in the ratio of alleles (different forms of a gene) in a population's gene pool. As time passes, this shift in allele frequency can lead to the emergence of new traits and eventually new species.

Many of the features we find appealing in plants and animals are adaptations. For instance lung or gills that extract oxygen from the air, fur and feathers as insulation and long legs to get away from predators and camouflage to conceal. However, a thorough understanding of adaptation requires attention to the distinction between the physiological and behavioral traits.

???? ?? as the thick fur and gills are physical traits. Behavior adaptations aren't, such as the tendency of animals to seek out companionship or move into the shade during hot temperatures. In addition it is important to remember that a lack of thought does not mean that something is an adaptation. In fact, failing to think about the consequences of a choice can render it unadaptive despite the fact that it appears to be sensible or even necessary.

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