Chapter 13: The Five Forces Behind Human Evolution

1998, 1999, 2000 Gregory CareyChapter 13: five Forces - 1 Chapter 13: The five Forces Behind Human EvolutionIntroductionFive different Forces have influenced Human Evolution : natural selection , randomgenetic drift, mutation, population mating structure, and culture. All evolutionary biologistsagree on the first three of these Forces , although there have been disputes at times about therelative importance of each force . The fourth and fifth Forces are new in the sense that theyare not explicated in more traditional texts.

Human birth weight is a classic example of stabilizing selection. Before modern medical interventions, low birth weight neonates had high mortality. Similarly, neonates much larger than average posed serious problems for their mothers and themselves. In terms of infant survival, it was preferable to be near the mean rather than at the extremes.

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  Birth, Human, Selection, Five, Behind, Force, Evolution, Weight, Five forces behind human evolution, Birth weight, Stabilizing, Human birth weight, Stabilizing selection

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