NDLI: Genetic Variance–covariance Matrices: A Critique of the Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics Research Program

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Pigliucci, Massimo
Copyright Year	2006
Abstract	This paper outlines a critique of the use of the genetic variance–covariance matrix (G), one of the central concepts in the modern study of natural selection and evolution. Specifically, I argue that for both conceptual and empirical reasons, studies of G cannot be used to elucidate so-called constraints on natural selection, nor can they be employed to detect or to measure past selection in natural populations – contrary to what assumed by most practicing biologists. I suggest that the search for a general solution to the difficult problem of identifying causal structures given observed correlation’s has led evolutionary quantitative geneticists to substitute statistical modeling for the more difficult, but much more valuable, job of teasing apart the many possible causes underlying the action of natural selection. Hence, the entire evolutionary quantitative genetics research program may be in need of a fundamental reconsideration of its goals and how they correspond to the array of mathematical and experimental techniques normally employed by its practitioners.
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	23
Page Count	23
File Format	PDF
ISSN	01693867
Journal	Biology & Philosophy
Volume Number	21
Issue Number	1
e-ISSN	15728404
Language	English
Publisher	Kluwer Academic Publishers
Publisher Date	2006-01-01
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Evolutionary theory Genetic covariances Heritability Pattern vs. process Quantitative genetics Philosophy of Biology Evolutionary Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy Agricultural and Biological Sciences History and Philosophy of Science

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