Comparative Quantitative Genetics

正如特征的集合可以进化一样， 影响这些特征表达的遗传。 的 容易观察到的特征的进化，如身体大小，大脑 大小等，从许多研究中可以很好地理解。 我们知道如何 这些可观察到的特征迅速（或缓慢）地进化。 基本 然而，关于遗传系统的进化事实， 几乎不为人知，尽管它们对现代社会的重要性 进化论 我们不知道遗传的速度有多快 系统进化。 一组的继承系统 可观察到的性状是通过测量 父母和子女之间的相似之处， 性状 为了评估任何特定的继承制度， 人口，我们必须衡量相似性，在许多套父母 和后代。 在每一个国家都有大量的亲属样本， 人口或物种的比较研究， 传承 拟议的项目将使用动物（吊袜带 蛇和水蛇），其中大样本的父母和 他们的后代可以很容易地组装起来。 这些动物有 更进一步的优势是进化关系已经 从生物化学工作中得知。 因此， 遗传可以在近亲和远亲之间进行比较 物种和进化速度可以确定。 现代 进化论通常假设遗传系统 进化得如此缓慢以至于它们实际上是不变的。 的 拟议的项目将构成对这一点的第一次强有力的考验。 生物自然种群的关键假设。

Just as ensembles of traits may evolve, so may the system of inheritance that affects the expression of those traits. The evolution of readily observable traits such as body size, brain size, etc. is well understood from numerous studies. We know how rapidly (or slowly) such observable traits evolve. Basic evolutionary facts about systems of inheritance, however, are virtually unknown, despite their importance to modern evolutionary theory. We do not know how rapidly the inheritance system evolves. The system of inheritance for a set of observable traits is assessed by measuring the degree of resemblance between parents and their offspring for those traits. To assess the inheritance system of any particular population, we must measure resemblance in many sets of parents and offspring. The necessity of a large sample of relatives in each population or species has frustrated comparative studies of inheritance. The proposed project will use animals (garter snakes and water snakes) in which large samples of parents and their offspring can be readily assembled. These animals have the further advantage that evolutionary relationships are already known from biochemical work. Consequently, systems of inheritance can be compared among closely and distantly related species and rates of evolution can be determined. Modern evolutionary theory often assumes that systems of inheritance evolve so slowly that they are effectively invariant. The proposed project will constitute the first strong test of that critical assumption in natural populations of organisms.