Continuity in Evolution: On the Nature of Transition

Walter Fontana and Peter Schuster

Working Papers from Santa Fe Institute

Abstract: To distinguish continuous from discontinuous evolutionary change, a relation of nearness between phenotypes is needed. Such a relation is based on the probability of one phenotype being accessible from another through changes in the genotype. This is exemplified by calculating the shape neighborhood of a tRNA secondary structure, and provides a characterization of discontinuous shape transformations in RNA. The simulation of replicating and mutating RNA populations under selection shows that sudden adaptive progress coincides mostly, but not always, with discontinuous shape transformations. The nature of these transformations illuminates the key role of neutral genetic drift in their realization.

Keywords: Continuity; evolutionary dynamics; RNA secondary structure; topology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998-04
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wop:safiwp:98-04-030

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Santa Fe Institute Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Thomas Krichel ().