• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Fitness and Individuality in Complex Life Cycles
  • Contributor: Herron, Matthew D.
  • Published: University of Chicago Press, 2016
  • Published in: Philosophy of Science, 83 (2016) 5, Seite 828-834
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0031-8248; 1539-767X
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <p>Complex life cycles are common in the eukaryotic world, and they complicate the question of how to define individuality. Using a bottom-up, gene-centric approach, I consider the concept of fitness in the context of complex life cycles. I analyze the fitness effects of an allele (or a trait) on different biological units within a complex life history and how these effects drive evolutionary change within populations. Based on these effects, I attempt to construct a concept of fitness that accurately predicts evolutionary change in the context of complex life cycles.</p>