Where is evolution taking us?

[Jokodo]

Mules. I mean, they can, but not very well.

Quote from Darwin on mules " The mule always appears to me a most surprising animal. That the offspring of the horse and the ass should possess more reason, memory, obstinacy, social affection, powers of muscular endurance, and length of life, than either of its parents, seems to indicate that art has here outdone nature. "

If you think about it- that a mule is healthier, hardier, stronger, and more intelligent than its parents, and only lacks the reproductive capacity (in most cases- it's hard for a mule to conceive). The mule's existence is a direct argument that greater ability to reproduce is selected for.

That's a total non argument as absolutley nothing is being selected for here.

As long as donkeys and horses exist, then they will still be able to breed mules and mules will always exist.

Of course, something is selected for. A female ass who prefers to mate with male horses over male asses is going to leave no grandchildren (assuming access to both, and ignoring the rare cases of fertile mules), so any genetic component to her preference will be eliminated from the gene pool. And this will be so even if she and her first generation offspring are hardier and better able to survive than their peers.

There, a perfect example of selection against a trait despite that trait having no negative impact on survival.

 

[J842P]

Natural selection is defined as the biological process by which biological traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of the effect of inherited traits on the differential reproductive success of organisms interacting with their environment.

This is not a controversial statement, and any professor of evolutionary biology would agree with the above definition.

 

[rousseau]

Can we start talking about where evolution is taking us rather than evolution again?