Evolutionary biologist Andrew Hendry contends that the primary role of evolution, contrary to the usual supposition, is to prevent rapid change.
He’ll explain his theory at the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture, entitled “The World Without Evolution?” taking place Wednesday, April 23 at 5 pm in O.C. Marsh Hall. The event is free and open to the public. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Yale Peabody Museum and the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.
When people think of evolution, they tend to recall the circumstances where it causes rapid changes in organisms and environments. But Hendry, a professor of eco-evolutionary dynamics at McGill University, thinks it is in the slow changes where evolution is most impactful.
“Evolution is why you can recognize a coyote as a coyote from Panama to Alaska. Evolution is the reason that your forest walk looks the same from one year to the next. This evolution in action is why our cows can digest their food, and our lakes are clear, and our soils are productive,” Hendry said.
Hendry believes that without evolution, our natural systems would collapse within days to weeks to years. “Without evolution, the world would be unrecognizable within our lifespans,” he said.
His lecture will be a thought exercise considering what would happen if evolution simply stopped. “Much as Alan Weisman’s book The World Without Us asked what would happen if humans suddenly vanished from the world, I draw on real-world studies and experiments to consider this question,” Hendry said.
He did offer a preview of what you might find in a world without evolution. “The first thing you would notice would be the smell,” he said.
Hendry is a Professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a Canada Research Chair and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has published more than 250 scientific papers that have received more than 35,000 citations. He is best known for promoting the importance of contemporary (rapid) evolution in nature – and its effects on ecological patterns and processes. He studies these eco-evolutionary dynamics in theory and in natural systems, including guppies in Trinidad, Darwin’s finches in Galapagos, and threespine stickleback in North America. His recent book “Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics” is the definitive work on the topic.
For more information about Hendry and his work, visit www.andrew-hendry.ca.