On Thu, 20 May 2004 23:28:56 +0000 (UTC), 
Phil Roberts, Jr.  wrote:
> John Wilkins wrote:
>> Phil Roberts, Jr.  wrote:
>> 
>> R. A. Fisher did. He began his _The genetical theory of natural
>> selection_ in 1930, which kicked off the Synthesis, with the words,
>> "Natural Selection is not Evolution."
> 
> Yes.  But with the exception of Gould, most theorists consider
> natural selection to be the prime mover of evolution.  So for
> me its always been a moot point.

In terms of total amount of evolutionary change, random genetic
drift is the main mechanism of evolution, by far. Almost all
evolutionary biologists know this.

You may think of natrual selection as the "prime mover" of evolution
but only if you have some specifc definition of "prime mover" in
mind. It shouldn't be a "moot point" for you since you can make some
serious mistakes if you expect everything to be an adaptation.



Larry Moran
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