In an environment characterised by change, a species cannot afford to stand still. Genetic lethargy, genetic detachment or genetic derogation risks evolutionary demise. Certainly, in the evolutionary world, nothing good comes out of doing nothing.
Evolution is a transitional process. The adoption of individual change drives wider change, environmental change. This spurs further individual change as genes adapt to that changed environment. It’s a perpetuating cycle, one that is designed to favour progressive development.
And yet the adoption of change is not straightforward. Choices have to be considered; decisions have to be made. Compromises have to be agreed; trade-offs have to be accepted.
A species faces multiple pressures in ensuring its survival. The challenge is rarely a singular threat. There are many considerations to think about: predatory dangers that need to be warded off, the procurement of food, withstanding climatic changes, habitat upheaval, ensuring sexual desirability, raising and providing for one’s off-spring.
Genetically, how does a species decide which one to focus on? What would be the most beneficial? What would best improve the survival prospects of a species? How does a species balance these competing pressures? Do they focus entirely on one particular purpose or do they spread their ambitions, trying to achieve a number of different aims?
These are life and death decisions. These are the decisions that will determine the fate of the species.
Having decided on a developmental course, mutational opportunities – potential advantages over environmental rivals – are eagerly seized upon in the hope that any adaptation may just be the one that provides the edge to securing a species’ survival and evolutionary prosperity.
From a species’ point of view, the process of mutational selection is rather like going on a supermarket sweep (or supermarket dash, as some people refer to it) – that is, when you have a limited time to help yourself to as many and as varied items as you can, filling your trolley for free. In pursuit of maximum returns, the choices and decisions made will determine the outcome and rewards gained.
- By choosing one aisle, you may have to exclude going to another aisle.
- The longer you spend in one aisle the less time you have elsewhere.
- The longer you spend in transit, the less time you have filling your trolley.
- If you go for too many large items then you may not have space in the trolley for other things.
- Time spent looking for something specific may be wasted time and may mean that you lose out elsewhere.
Questions are asked: do you try to get what you want or do you just try to fill the trolley? How selective should you be? How do you make the most of the opportunity afforded to you?
And, of course, in this – Nature’s – supermarket sweep you’re in competition with others, all of whom are trying to acquire the best filled trolley.
Any actions do not take place in isolation. It’s not just about what a species does that will determine its fate. There are other forces at work. There is also the wider environment to think about. That environment is constantly changing. With every species’ mutational adaptations the environment subtly changes. All species must react to such changes. Any failure to respond risks a weakening of a species’ position and, ultimately, possible extinction.
A species must therefore pursue a delicate evolutionary balance of being both proactive and reactive. They must both seek to advance their position but they must also guard against potential threats to their position. They must drive change and they must respond to change.
This means that all species have to do battle on several fronts. They not only have to choose where to apply their genetic focus but they also have to guard against external threats, challenges to their existing position.
Nature is, effectively, a multi-dimensional arms race. It leads to a species having to make complex calculations and considerations.
If a species concentrates its evolutionary efforts in one area does the neglect of other areas expose it to threats? Should a species focus on developing its strengths or on improving its weaknesses? To what extent should a species strive for genetic advantage? How defensive should a species be in seeking to safeguard its existing niche within Nature?
The right calls have to be made. Survival is about identifying beneficial mutational opportunities and harnessing them through adaptation to improve a species’ position vis-a-vis the environment.
In any arms race, survival tends to be reasonably assured if each side can match or surpass their adversary’s weaponry. That applies equally in relation to our genes. So long as they stay in or ahead of the game then their survival will, in all likelihood, continue.
And yet, sometimes, as in any race there will be losers. There will be instances when evolutionary failure arises from the pursuit of misguided genetic ambitions. A species may, quite simply, get things wrong and misread their environment.
But, more often, extinct species are not to blame for their own demise. After all, a species can only control so much. Sometimes there’s just nothing they can do to safeguard their future. Environmental change may happen too quickly for a species to adapt to or – given that adaptation is based on genetic mutations – those specific mutational opportunities required for survival just may not arise. It would be rather like waiting for a bus to take you somewhere – if no bus turns up then there’s not a lot you can do about it.
Arms races do get criticised for creating an unstable environment, characterised by fear, tension and uncertainty. Yet the competitive element of them does drive progress.
Evolutionary ambition will always drive reproductive behaviour. Each side is looking for that ground-breaking genetic advancement that will give them the edge. Such a development could lead to substantial environmental change and a shift in the balance of power.
By acquiring such an advantage, this generation might be able to secure the futures of subsequent generations.
It is also thanks to the relentless pursuit of this competitive advantage that, over millions of years, Nature has developed and expanded in a plethora of different directions. It is this on-going open-ended arms race that has been responsible for generating such diversity within Nature.
