Table 2

Differences between predictions of the classical theories of evolution and frozen plasticity theory of evolution.

clasical theory

frozen plasticity theory

anagenesis and cladogenesis **^{1, 2}

are independent

are coupled

divergence of species¹

does not correlate with taxon richness

correlates with taxon richness

genetic polymorphism **³

accelerates evolution

decelerates evolution

species respond to selection *⁴

plastically (as plasticine)

elastically (as ruber)

species are adapted to *⁵

current environment

original environment

local and global abundance **⁶

correlate for any species

do not correlate for old species

abundance of species

is independent of species age

decreases with species age

ability of species to respond to environmental changes **⁷

is independent of species age

decreases with species age

species on islands are derived *¹

as much as those on continents

more than those on continents

asexual species are*⁸

less adapted to their environment

more adapted to their environment

cross-pollinating species *⁹

as stable as self-pollinating species

more stable than self-pollinating species

invasive species **¹⁰

express average heritability

express higher heritability

domesticated species

express average heritability

express higher heritability

domesticated species

express average age

are evolutionarily younger

successful selection*¹¹

has no influence on fitness

decreases fitness

rate of anagenesis in a clade*

is (on average) constant

usually decreases

two species in the same niche*

usually cannot coexist

frequently can coexist

slow long-term trends*

are hardly possible

are quite possible

Two asterisks denote the predictions that have already been tested and support the frozen plasticity model. One asterisk denotes the predictions that have not been intentionally tested but are supported by published data. ¹[57], ²[58], ³[59,60], ⁴[17], ⁵[61], ⁶[62], ⁷[45], ⁸[63,64], ⁹[65], ¹⁰[66-68], ¹¹[69,70]. For explanation see [46] and (Flegr J.: Microevolutionary a macroevolutionary implication of Frozen plasticity theory of adaptive evolution, submitted).

Flegr Biology Direct 2010 5:2   doi:10.1186/1745-6150-5-2