Article ID: CBB000774606

Distinguishing Drift and Selection Empirically: “The Great Snail Debate” of the 1950s (2008)

unapi

Biologists and philosophers have been extremely pessimistic about the possibility of demonstrating random drift in nature, particularly when it comes to distinguishing random drift from natural selection. However, examination of a historical case -- Maxime Lamotte's study of natural populations of the land snail, Cepaea nemoralis in the 1950s -- shows that while some pessimism is warranted, it has been overstated. Indeed, by describing a unique signature for drift and showing that this signature obtained in the populations under study, Lamotte was able to make a good case for a significant role for drift. It may be difficult to disentangle the causes of drift and selection acting in a population, but it is not (always) impossible.

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Authors & Contributors
Christopher Lean
Grodwohl, Jean-Baptiste
Jeler, Ciprian
Gibson, Abraham Hill
Dimond, Christopher C.
Wilson, David Sloan
Concepts
Natural selection
Population genetics
Evolution
Biology
Human genetics
Genetics
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
20th century
20th century, early
19th century
Places
Hawaii (U.S.)
United States
Denmark
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