Darwinian demon

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The Darwinian demon ( Engl. Darwinian demon ) is a thought experiment . It is intended to illustrate that organisms have to make compromises in terms of their adaptation to the environment. The Darwinian demon is named after Charles Darwin , the British naturalist and founder of the theory of evolution .

description

The Darwinian demon is an idealized hypothetical (female) organism that maximizes all parameters of its fitness . He has an infinite life expectancy and unlimited fertility . He starts reproducing immediately after he is born . During its infinitely long life, it has the highest possible reproduction rate with a large number of offspring . He can spread indefinitely and find partners to mate anywhere, anytime. These assumptions do not violate any physical law . If all resources were available without restriction, it is argued, the Darwinian demon would have to exist.

The fact that such a being does not exist shows that the resources are limited for every organism. He has to adapt to the given boundary conditions of his environment in order to ensure the continued existence and success of his species. He has to divide the available resources (energy) between his own growth, the maintenance of his basic functions and reproduction. This results in a problem of the distribution of scarce resources ( allocation problem ). Every organism has to solve this allocation problem for itself. After the life-history theory ( life history theory ) to different strategies (to life cycle strategies ) pursued.

The thought experiment and the term Darwinian demon originate from 1979 by the British Richard Law. The name was chosen by him in analogy to the well-known Maxwell demon .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NH Barton: Evolution. CSHL Press, 2007, ISBN 0-879-69684-2 , p. 557. Limited preview in Google Book Search
  2. ↑ a b R. Law: Optimal Life Histories under age-specific Predation: In: The American Naturalist 114, 1979, pp. 399-417.
  3. ↑ a b O. Leimar: Evolutionary change and Darwinian demons. (PDF; 138 kB) In: Selection 2, 2001, pp. 65-72. doi : 10.1556 / Select.2.2001.1-2.5
  4. ^ PM Kappeler: Behavioral Biology. Verlag Springer, 2005, ISBN 3-540-24056-X , p. 41f limited preview in the Google book search
  5. ↑ R. Ferrière et al.: Evolutionary conservation biology. Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-521-82700-0 , p. 202
  6. ^ JC Maxwell: Theory of Heat. Longmans, Green and Co, London, 1908

further reading

  • RP Carlsona and RL Taffsa: Molecular-level tradeoffs and metabolic adaptation to simultaneous stressors. In: Current Opinion in Biotechnology [in press] 2010 doi : 10.1016 / j.copbio.2010.05.011
  • A. Baudisch: How aging is shaped by trade-offs. (PDF; 215 kB) Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock 2009
  • JW Silvertown: Demons in Eden: The Paradox of Plant Diversity. University of Chicago Press, 2008, ISBN 0-226-75772-2, limited preview in Google Book Search
  • CW Clark and M. Mangel: Dynamic state variable models in ecology: methods and applications. Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-195-12266-6 limited preview in Google Book Search
  • L. Partridge and PH Harvey: The ecological context of the life history evolution. In: Science 241, 1988, pp. 1449-1455. PMID 17790040