In a lab at Michigan State University, researchers have tracked more than 60,000 generations of E. coli . While most colonies evolved similarly, one famously developed the ability to eat citrate—a "lucky" mutation that others missed, supporting Gould's idea of chance.
Gould famously argued that evolution is highly contingent on random events. He believed that if you replayed the "tape of life," a different set of winners and losers would emerge every time. To Gould, humans are a magnificent evolutionary fluke. Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Fut...
Losos’s own pioneering work shows that nearly identical lizard species have evolved independently on different islands to fill specific niches (like tree trunks or grassy twigs), a stunning example of predictable convergence. In a lab at Michigan State University, researchers
The book centers on a legendary scientific disagreement between two titans of biology: Gould famously argued that evolution is highly contingent
The platypus, for instance, remains a one-off. He argues that while nature often repeats itself, there is no guarantee it would ever "repeat" us. Why It Matters Today
Understanding how bacteria predictably evolve resistance can help us fight "superbugs".