Name: Where New Adaptations Come From @StanEvolve
Uploaded: 2024-08-16T01:29:31-0400
Duration: 8 min 17 s
Description: New adaptations in biological evolution start not in large populations but in small ones, as Sewall Wright explained. The same is true of new ideas in social evolution. A new idea might not stand a chance in a large population, but the small population can be a stepping stone to its dominance. In this example: the little municipalities that make up Strasbourg, France.

Darwin and acorns that germinate in the fall @StanEvolve

Uploaded January 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

Squirrels disperse acorns by burying them in the fall and then forgetting about some of them. But for white oaks, such as Quercus petraea in Europe, the acorns start to germinate in the fall, and as a result if the squirrels find the acorns in the spring they will find that most of the nutrition has been translocated down into the root. This helps more of the acorns survive.

Darwin and acorns that germinate in the fall

Darwin looks on the bright side of death