Population dynamic feed-back selection

from self-replicating molecules to sexual multicellular animals

Explore how metabolism, body mass & allometries are selected by the gradual unfolding of population dynamic feed-back selection.

The gradual unfolding of the population dynamic feed-back selects lifeforms from viruses over prokaryotes and single celled protozoa to multicellular animals with sexual, co-operative, and eusocial reproduction.

Population dynamic feed-back selection generates selection-regulated population dynamics.

This is more general than density-regulated growth, predicting the population cycles that have facinated ecologists for decades.

The unconstrained selection of metabolism and mass occurs at steady state.

The result is exponential evolution in biological time, with the selection of metabolism bending the log-linear increase in body mass in physical time.

This unfolding selects not only for body masses and allometries; but also for major life history transitions between five natural selection attractors.

These attractors are the competive interaction fix-points that determine the level of interference competition in populations.