Biological constraints

Biological constraints are factors which make populations resistant to evolutionary change. One proposed definition of constraint is "A property of a trait that, although possibly adaptive in the environment in which it originally evolved, acts to place limits on the production of new phenotypic variants."[1] Constraint has played an important role in the development of such ideas as homology and body plans.

  1. ^ Blomberg, S. P.; Garland, T. (2002). "Tempo and mode in evolution: Phylogenetic inertia, adaptation and comparative methods". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 15 (6): 899–910. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2002.00472.x. S2CID 16027791.