Abstract

MARIN, César. THE LEVELS OF SELECTION DEBATE: TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EXISTING EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2016, vol.21, n.3, pp.467-472. ISSN 0120-548X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/abc.v21n3.54596.

For over five decades the dominant neo-Darwinian view is that natural selection acts only at the genic and organismal levels, but the ignored empirical evidence of multilevel selection occurring in nature obtained over the last fifty years does not agree with it. A long exchange of mathematical and theoretical arguments about the levels at which natural selection acts constitutes what is known as the 'levels of selection debate'. The large amount of empirical evidence, studied by quantitative genetics means, specifically contextual analysis, indicates that natural selection acts on levels of the biological hierarchy above and below that of the gene and organism, from the molecular to the ecosystem level, thus supporting what is called the multilevel selection theory. Beyond theoretical arguments, if empirical evidence for multilevel selection and contextual analysis results are carefully examined, the debate on the levels of selection is easily resolved: natural selection occurs in nature at different levels of biological hierarchy. This text provides an overview of such empirical evidence.

Keywords : biological hierarchy; contextual analysis; group selection; multilevel selection; natural selection.

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