One evolution textbook that my students found easy to understand and which gets most of the details right is The Tangled Bank by Carl Zimmer. I recommend giving it a read. Zimmer is one of the better science reporters, and tries hard to both get the science right and present it in compelling ways.
ooo thank you for the suggestion! will check it out.
I looked it up and found this from an article (Both animals from very different families). This is such a clear example of selective pressures selecting for the same ecological niche.
Is this also why many of the recently evolved Amaranthaceae now have plants that make red fleshy edible berries?
I also wonder the same long term effect of Natural Selection Pressures can also be noticed in Long Term Human Selection Pressures right?
Like all of our domesticated crops have bigger fruit/edible part, reduced anti-nutrients, reduced thorns, ease of harvest, ect. So many common trends among domesticated crop species.
Like the case with Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes & true Yams all have had Human Selection Pressures on them for larger root yet belong to completely separate families.
Each Plant Family trys its best to survive any selection pressure (Regardless if it’s Artificial or Natural).
Is this why we can notice cultural trends from different cultures in what selection pressures they put on?
Squash have been spread all over the world, yet I notices lots of subtle traits in Italian Cultivars that are very different from the Latin American Cultivars, even tho both are the same Cucurbita pepo species.
Both separate European & Latin American cultures put on slightly different selection pressures and thus result in different traits those cultures/societies valued.
On a smaller scale, 1 plant breeder loves hot peppers vs the other doesn’t. After 5 years of Landrace Plant Breeding, the results are very noticeable due to the difference in selection pressures of the individual.
I suspect the personality of plant breeder gets inbedded into their landrace/cultivars. Sometimes you can tell who bred what because of what was selected for.
In the exact same way, Natural Selections inbed their traits into whatever organism was under them.
Thinking bigger, does that mean our good habbits, working out, studying, eating healthy are also selection pressures we can put on ourselves via Discipline?
That also means path of least resistance is also a selection pressure no?