---
_id: '953'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: 'The role of natural selection in the evolution of adaptive phenotypes has
    undergone constant probing by evolutionary biologists, employing both theoretical
    and empirical approaches. As Darwin noted, natural selection can act together
    with other processes, including random changes in the frequencies of phenotypic
    differences that are not under strong selection, and changes in the environment,
    which may reflect evolutionary changes in the organisms themselves. As understanding
    of genetics developed after 1900, the new genetic discoveries were incorporated
    into evolutionary biology. The resulting general principles were summarized by
    Julian Huxley in his 1942 book Evolution: the modern synthesis. Here, we examine
    how recent advances in genetics, developmental biology and molecular biology,
    including epigenetics, relate to today''s understanding of the evolution of adaptations.
    We illustrate how careful genetic studies have repeatedly shown that apparently
    puzzling results in a wide diversity of organisms involve processes that are consistent
    with neo-Darwinism. They do not support important roles in adaptation for processes
    such as directed mutation or the inheritance of acquired characters, and therefore
    no radical revision of our understanding of the mechanism of adaptive evolution
    is needed.'
article_number: '20162864'
article_processing_charge: No
author:
- first_name: Deborah
  full_name: Charlesworth, Deborah
  last_name: Charlesworth
- first_name: Nicholas H
  full_name: Barton, Nicholas H
  id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Barton
  orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240
- first_name: Brian
  full_name: Charlesworth, Brian
  last_name: Charlesworth
citation:
  ama: Charlesworth D, Barton NH, Charlesworth B. The sources of adaptive evolution.
    <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences</i>.
    2017;284(1855). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864">10.1098/rspb.2016.2864</a>
  apa: Charlesworth, D., Barton, N. H., &#38; Charlesworth, B. (2017). The sources
    of adaptive evolution. <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B
    Biological Sciences</i>. Royal Society, The. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864">https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864</a>
  chicago: Charlesworth, Deborah, Nicholas H Barton, and Brian Charlesworth. “The
    Sources of Adaptive Evolution.” <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
    Series B Biological Sciences</i>. Royal Society, The, 2017. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864">https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864</a>.
  ieee: D. Charlesworth, N. H. Barton, and B. Charlesworth, “The sources of adaptive
    evolution,” <i>Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological
    Sciences</i>, vol. 284, no. 1855. Royal Society, The, 2017.
  ista: Charlesworth D, Barton NH, Charlesworth B. 2017. The sources of adaptive evolution.
    Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences. 284(1855),
    20162864.
  mla: Charlesworth, Deborah, et al. “The Sources of Adaptive Evolution.” <i>Proceedings
    of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences</i>, vol. 284, no.
    1855, 20162864, Royal Society, The, 2017, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.2864">10.1098/rspb.2016.2864</a>.
  short: D. Charlesworth, N.H. Barton, B. Charlesworth, Proceedings of the Royal Society
    of London Series B Biological Sciences 284 (2017).
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:49:23Z
date_published: 2017-05-31T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-09-22T10:01:48Z
day: '31'
department:
- _id: NiBa
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2864
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000405148800021'
  pmid:
  - '28566483'
intvolume: '       284'
isi: 1
issue: '1855'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5454256/
month: '05'
oa: 1
oa_version: Submitted Version
pmid: 1
publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society, The
publist_id: '6462'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: The sources of adaptive evolution
type: journal_article
user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1
volume: 284
year: '2017'
...