But what were the
>assumptions? Those were 1) an essentially infinite population
>size, 2) panmixia or ranodm mating, 3) no selection, and 4) no
>new alleles. (See Futuyma pp.231-233.) To claim that HWC
>disproves evolutionary change is pretty funny, given that the
>assumptions specifically eliminate consideration of cases
>where evolutionary change would occur.
These can be factored in. No matter how you cut the cake, until a mutation
is expressed, it cannot be selected for. Hardy-Weinburg enables
calculations using reasonable assumptions to be done (there are lots of
engines available on the internet for trying this out), and when you do the
calculations, they do not favor the testing or elimination of recessive
mutations, or the fixing of dominant ones. Of course, you can always
change the conditions so that any particular outcome can be achieved, but I
did say "reasonable".
>
> AC>Unless the selective advantage of a trait is nearly
> AC>perfect, a condition that is unattainable by definition, it
> AC>will not become fixed in the population.
>Well, the assertion is false, whether one brandishes HWC
>around or not. I recommend a 1930 book by Ronald Fisher for
>the relevant math, "The Genetical Theory of Natural
>Selection". While fixation is rare, having an allele that has
>an extremely high proportional representation is common,
>coupled with one or several recessive alleles at small
>proportions. Change in proportion is most rapid when an
>allele is at an intermediate proportion, but slower when the
>allele is either rare or very common. (Modelling this via
>Monte Carlo methods yields a curve very much like the Verhulst
>logistic equation.)
I am not sure which assertion you are referring to, but if you are speaking
of a normal recessive allele that is not being selected for, then I would
like to see some (since we are speaking of math) evidence for that.
>
>AC>One can argue that a dominant allele in theory can become
>AC>fixed in a population (See the discussion in Wallace Arthur's
>AC>book "The Origin of Animal Body Plans" Cambridge, beginning
>AC>around page 210.), if the mutation is selectively advantageous
>AC>enough. This would be an extraordinary case, though.
>
>Huh? Fisher's analysis shows that even minute selective
>advantages can drive an allele to fixation or at least very
>high proportions of representation.
This can easily be tested in the engines available on the internet. Again,
one must ask what assumptions he has made, and whether we judge these to be
reasonable. The math is there, but so is a lot of wishful thinking.
Remember, Fisher was driven to promote evolution, and was not an unbiased
observer.