> Species don't "learn." The role of learning in evolution has been discussed with increasing frequency. West-Eberhard has been particularly influential in emphasizing how, by learning to accommodate to the special needs of its body and the peculiarities of its environment, an animal can generate novelties that provide the basis for further evolution. She called this ‘genetic accommodation’. An animal’s behaviour is likely to have affected the course of evolution of its descendants in at least four ways. First, animals make active choices as Darwin was the first to suggest, and the consequences of their choices are often important. Second, animals change the conditions in which they live by altering the physical or the social environment— the main role of ‘niche construction’. Third, active animals often expose themselves to new conditions that reveal variability, with some variants more likely to survive than others. Finally, by their adaptability, organisms are able to modify their behaviour in response to novel conditions and therebymake further genetic change possible. Bateson P. 2017 Adaptability and evolution. Interface Focus 7: 20160126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2016.0126 *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html