2026/01/30 by Brian Charlesworth · 1 voice · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Decision Sciences · Social Sciences · #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Fundamental theorem #Game Theory and Applications #Inclusive fitness #Natural (archaeology) #Natural selection #Selection (genetic algorithm) #Variance (accounting)
paper · doi:10.1093/evolut/qpag017
published in Evolution 80(4), 880-882 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2026/01/30 · openalex created_date 2026/02/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08
There have been many recent discussions of the Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection, with an emphasis on its mathematical accuracy. It is argued here that, despite the mathematical problems that have been uncovered, it still has utility for biologists. In particular, it predicts an absence of additive genetic variance for fitness for populations at equilibrium under selection alone, a result that is valid under very general conditions. This raises the question as to why there are such high levels of additive variance in fitness and fitness components, but little evidence for nonadditive variance.