Replicated divergent selection populations rule out chance in evolution experiments

Evidence

If several generations later we find that in both of the populations selected for long horns, males end up with longer horns than before, and in both of the populations selected for short horns, males have horns that are shorter than before, then we can begin to rule out chance. In fact, I conducted my experiment on six distinct populations of beetles simultaneously. In two of the populations I artificially selected for longer horns in males; in two other populations I selected for shorter horns in males; and in the final two populations I chose the males at random. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 293

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Predation on a new background drove rapid genetic color evolution in mice; Sibling-comparison and longitudinal designs survived the reverse-causality critique — , The Rod and the Child: A Global History…, 6733; Small founder samples make artificial selection results vulnerable to chance — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 291 (+4 more)

Related

• Small founder samples make artificial selection results vulnerable to chance (similarity 0.90)
• Artificial selection directly tests whether populations evolve in response (similarity 0.88)
• Small founder samples cause random genetic drift in evolving populations (similarity 0.83)
• Evolution is nonrandom even though mutation is random (similarity 0.81)
• Mutation is random but the resulting evolutionary change is not. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Evolution is nonrandom even though mutation is random #corroborates (0.80) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 888
• Artificial selection directly tests whether populations evolve in response #corroborates (0.70) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 288