Before Darwin begins his examination on domestication, he thoroughly explains the possible process for which it occurred through his lengthy investigation of the rock-pigeon and its subsequent descendents. In his studies he examines arguments proposed by naturalists during his time and their reasoning to support their claims. While he may agree in some areas, he heavily criticizes the weak points presented in their arguments. Namely that of the high improbabilities assumed to be occurring, such as; that the wide variety of pigeons present today must have arose from not a few aboriginal stocks but instead from as many as six or seven stocks, otherwise how could have so many races have arisen. Other problems include the idea of the half-civilized man succeeding in thoroughly domesticating several species along with selecting abnormal and evolutionary advantageous traits and that these species have now become extinct.
These concerns could be addressed by running a microarray to find the possible genetic links between species in hopes of finding similar genes between related species. These genetic links will aid in forming a phylogenetic tree that examines the relationships between species and find the one or many original ancestors. Understanding the similarities between hybrids and there genetics can allow biologists a more clear view as to the links that bind many varieties of species.
In accordance to Dawkins, the problems with the argument would be a result of survival of those species that were not the most self-sacrificing but instead of those that were the most selfish. It was the selfish that continued to pass on their genes to their progeny while the altruists slowly died out. Survival of the fittest has now been rephrased by Dawkins to be “survival of the selfish”.
Lastly, while Darwin did not agree with Lamarck’s theory of acquired characteristics he did however acknowledge how while environmental factors are not the primary triggers of variation they nonetheless play an important role to the species. He supports his stance with the examples such as the availability of food or the climate and heat conditions in which species types are raised that lead up to domestication. Darwin concludes his findings with the fact that variation is primarily and substantially due to reproduction
I like how you brought up DNA micorarray as a way of examining genetic links among species. That is such a clever way of tying into modern day genetics on answering a recurring question. I would have liked to read more about the underlying process of working backwards using the micro array data and coming up with the phylogenetic tree. I also liked how you rephrased "survival of the fittest" in Dawkin's terms, which pretty much sums up his ideology. It would also be interesting to consider what he meant by selfish. Does this refer to the individual, group or the specie?
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