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Natural selection is the main mechanism that brings populations to new adaptive optima when the environment changes, but intelligence may also contribute by helping individuals devise behavioral solutions to the novel challenges.
Introduction
Environmental conditions where organisms live are changing continuously, often creating mismatches between current phenotypes and those that would be optimal under the new circumstances. These mismatches may be reduced through evolutionary responses, provided that there is enough standing genetic variation for natural selection to act upon. However, animals can reduce adaptive mismatches through yet another mechanism: their “intelligence.” By enhancing plastic behavioral responses, intelligence can place the population close to the new adaptive peak with no need of genetic change. In this sense, intelligence can be seen as an alternative to natural selection. The present chapter...
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Sol, D., Sayol, F., Ducatez, S. (2017). Intelligence vs. Natural Selection. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2657-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2657-1
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