Adapt or Die! The Evolutionary Biology of Pop Culture
Darwin did not expect to have "his" theory applied to pixelated creatures...this is payback for taking the limelight over Wallace. On Adapt or Die, Austin (a PhD candidate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) explores topics in popular culture that can be dissected with evolutionary theories and ideas. We will ask questions like "Does Pokémon evolution work like actual evolution?" or "How would evolution inform what lives and what dies after nuclear fallout". Combining peer-reviewed science, humour, and a smidge of speculation we will adapt our understanding of pop culture together.
Adapt or Die! The Evolutionary Biology of Pop Culture
11. Fahrenheit 006: Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Welcome to this brand new episode of Adapt or Die! The evolutionary biology of pop culture hosted by Austin Ashbaugh. The current cultural phenomenon we are discussing this season is Pokémon and todays episode is focused on the fire type. Our evolutionary connection to the ice type is evolutionary developmental biology.
In the Safari Zone, I get into developmental modularity, novelty, and allometry with appropriate fire-type pokémon case-studies. During the pokémon professors rant, I appropriately rant about pokémon eggs. Lastly, we will end todays episode with describing a regional variant of the Torkoal line and results from our latest pokémon spectacular competition. Sit back and relax in a chair older than yourself, open an old dusty tome, and join me as we adapt or die!
Link to Google Slides of Pokémon discussed in this episode
Resources cited for research in this episode:
1. Grant, P. R., Abbott, I., Schluter, D., Curry, R. L., & Abbott, L. K. (1985). Variation in the size and shape of Darwin's finches. _Biological Journal of the Linnean Society_, _25_(1), 1-39.
2. Huxley, J. S. (1950). Relative growth and form transformation. _Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B-Biological Sciences_, _137_(889), 465-469.
3. Lewis, E. B. (1978). A gene complex controlling segmentation in Drosophila. _Nature_, _276_(5688), 565-570.
4. Müller, G. B. (2007). Evo–devo: extending the evolutionary synthesis. _Nature reviews genetics_, _8_(12), 943-949.
5. Peterson, T., & Müller, G. B. (2013). What is evolutionary novelty? Process versus character based definitions. _Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution_, _320_(6), 345-350.
6. https://thelostlambda.github.io/pokestats/#:~:text=The%20fastest%20Pok%C3%A9mon%20type%20is,type%20was%20the%20Rock%20type.
7. https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/type/fire/
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Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen
