evolution likes it hot


“Evolution faster when it’s warmer”
24 June 2009























previously: here’s my question



  1. It’s not body temperature that controls the rate of evolution, it is the availability and abundance of resources. The rich resource base of the tropics provides ample opportunity for new mutations to become established. I’m surprised the scientists are too ignorant to know this. But then, the really good scientists go into physics, math and chemistry.

    If AGW is correct, the main effect would be to warm the temperate and polar regions.
    The tropics would change only slightly. This might reduce the differential in evolutionary rates.


  2. @bob – “It’s not body temperature that controls the rate of evolution, it is the availability and abundance of resources.”

    seems to be the heat for plants — increases their metabolic rate. maybe/possibly. of course, the same mechanism (if that’s what’s happening in plants) doesn’t have to apply to animals.

    whatever the cause, it looks like there are more mutations in warmer climes — more for good ol’ natural selection to act upon.


  3. hbd chick, these two vids explain human genetic diversity and why Africa is the cradle of mankind. I thought they were straightforward:


  4. @insightful – “these two vids explain human genetic diversity and why Africa is the cradle of mankind.”

    very nice videos, insightful, thanks. but they (and, i guess, you) miss the point of my post. the videos say something to the effect of how we can trace the migrations of humans out of africa because we know the rate of mutations. but if that rate is faster in hotter climates than in cooler ones … (think about that for a sec) … mightn’t that mean that the greater genetic variety in african populations could simply have something to do the fact that most of the continent lies in the tropics?


Leave a Reply


WordPress.com Logo


Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s