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Why size matters: Saltationism, creativity, and the reign of the DiNOs
Debates on “gradualism” in evolutionary biology address the size distribution of evolutionary changes. The classical Darwinian position, better described as “infinitesimalism”, holds that evolutionary change is smooth in the sense of… Read more
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Revolt of the clay: updated evidence
In a previous post called “The revolt of the clay“, I described four different ways to think about the role of variation as a process with a predictably non-random impact on… Read more
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The revolt of the clay: an initial progress report
A “chance” encounter Earlier this month I was contacted by a reporter writing a piece on the role of chance in evolution. I responded that I didn’t work on… Read more
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Amino acid exchangeability: condensing data from mutation-scanning experiments
I just had to post the image below because it’s so cool. Here’s the backstory. A decade ago, Lev Yampolsky and I did a meta-analysis of mutation-scanning experiments– studies that… Read more
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Conceptual frameworks and the problem of variation
Conceptual frameworks guide our thinking Our efforts to understand the world depend on conceptual frameworks and are guided by metaphors. We have lots of them. I suspect that most are applied without awareness.… Read more
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Randomness in Evolution (Bonner)
John Tyler Bonner’s Randomness in Evolution (2013; Princeton University Press) is a small and lightweight book— 123 pages, plus a bibliography with a mere 43 references. So, I won’t feel… Read more
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Mendelian-Mutationism: the Forgotten Evolutionary Synthesis
What is Mendelian-mutationism? And why do we argue in a recent paper in that it represents a forgotten evolutionary synthesis (Stoltzfus and Cable, 2014, Mendelian-Mutationism: The Forgotten Evolutionary Synthesis. J Hist… Read more
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The surprising case of origin-fixation models
In a recent QRB paper with David McCandlish, we review the form, origins, uses, and implications of models (e.g., the familiar K = 4Nus) that represent evolutionary change as a 2-step… Read more
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Going global with phylogeny: the tree-for-all hackathon
Earlier this year, the Open Tree of Life project made the first public release of its synthetic tree of 2.5 million species (from ~4000 source trees), and announced a web services API (Application Programming Interface) providing programmatic access… Read more
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The Curious Disconnect: Introduction
This is a far-too-long introduction to a blog series that I started in 2010. Now I’m ready to start it up again. The themes will still be the same— but hopefully… Read more
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I’m Amy, a minimalist and simple living enthusiast who has dedicated her life to living with less and finding joy in the simple things. Through this blog, I aim to share my expertise, insights, and experiences. Join me on this journey as we explore the world of slow, purposeful living together!
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Mutation and evolution 