"Evolutionary mismatch is the evolutionary biology concept that a previously advantageous trait may become maladaptive due to change in the environment, especially when change is rapid."
The idea that some traits and behaviors that were adaptive in ancestral environments may be maladaptive in modern environments, leading to physical and psychological problems.
Evolutionary theory: The overarching theory that explains the processes by which species evolve and adapt over time.
Natural selection: The mechanism by which certain traits or characteristics become more prevalent in a population due to their adaptive value in the current environment.
Gene-culture coevolution: The idea that cultural practices can shape genetic evolution and vice versa.
Evolutionary psychology: The study of how human behavior and cognition have evolved over time, typically from an adaptationist perspective.
Hominin evolution: The study of the evolution of humans and their ancestors, including how their physical and cognitive traits have evolved over time.
Paleoanthropology: The study of ancient hominin fossils and artifacts, including their lifestyle and behavior.
Environmental mismatch: The concept that many modern human behaviors and lifestyles are not well-adapted to our ancestral environments, leading to negative health outcomes.
Sex differences: The study of the different behavioral and cognitive characteristics exhibited by males and females, as well as the underlying evolutionary mechanisms that have shaped those differences.
Life history theory: The study of how species allocate resources to different strategies for growth, reproduction, and survival.
Behavioral genetics: The study of how genes interact with the environment to produce complex behaviors, including those that may be relevant to evolutionary mismatch.
Cultural evolution: The study of how culture changes over time, including how it affects biological evolution and vice versa.
Gene-environment interactions: The study of how genetic and environmental factors interact to shape behavior and cognition.
Epigenetics: The study of how the environment can influence gene expression, potentially leading to long-term changes in behavior and biology.
Evolutionary medicine: The application of evolutionary theory to better understand human health and disease, including how evolutionary mismatches may contribute to modern health problems.
Altruism and social behavior: The study of how social behaviors have evolved to facilitate cooperation and altruistic acts within groups, as well as the potential conflicts that can arise between individual and group interests.
Sedentary lifestyle: Modern humans are far less active than our ancestors, who used to spend most of their time hunting, gathering, and engaging in physical activities. The sedentary lifestyle is a mismatch between our evolutionary past and our current lifestyle, which leads to various health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Nutritional mismatches: Humans have evolved to prefer high-calorie foods because such foods were scarce in our evolutionary environment. However, the availability of high-calorie foods has skyrocketed in modern times, leading to overconsumption and obesity.
Sleep mismatch: Humans evolved to sleep when it is dark and be active when it is light. However, modern humans often work night shifts or use electronic devices late into the night, disrupting our circadian rhythm and causing sleep deprivation.
Social mismatch: Humans evolved to live in small, tight-knit groups in which social connections were essential for survival. However, modern humans often live in large, anonymous societies, leading to feelings of social isolation and loneliness.
Technology mismatch: Modern technology has changed the human environment rapidly, with little time for slow adaptation. Technology has created a mismatch between how we evolved to interact with the world and how we do today.
"Environmental change leading to evolutionary mismatch can be broken down into two major categories: temporal (change of the existing environment over time, e.g. a climate change) or spatial (placing organisms into a new environment, e.g. a population migrating)."
"Temporal environmental change refers to changes in the existing environment over time, such as climate change. Spatial environmental change involves placing organisms into a new environment, like a population migrating."
"Evolutionary mismatch can take place in humans as well as other animals."
"In recent times, humans have had a large, rapid, and trackable impact on the environment, thus creating scenarios where it is easier to observe evolutionary mismatch."
"The environment ('nature') determines ('selects') which traits will persist in a population through the mechanism of evolution by natural selection."
"There will be a gradual weeding out of disadvantageous traits over several generations as the population becomes more adapted to its environment."
"Mismatched traits are ultimately addressed in one of several possible ways: the organism may evolve such that the maladaptive trait is no longer expressed, the organism may decline and/or become extinct as a result of the disadvantageous trait, or the environment may change such that the trait is no longer selected against."
"Because large-scale natural environmental change – like a natural disaster – is often rare, it is less often observed."
"Another more prevalent kind of environmental change is anthropogenic (human-caused)."
"Shortly following an environmental change, traits that evolved in the previous environment, whether they were advantageous or neutral, are persistent for several generations in the new environment. Because evolution is gradual and environmental changes often occur very quickly on a geological scale, there is always a period of 'catching-up' as the population evolves to become adapted to the environment."
"Any significant change in a population's traits that cannot be attributed to other factors (such as genetic drift and mutation) will be responsive to a change in that population's environment."
"The organism may evolve such that the maladaptive trait is no longer expressed."
"Natural selection is inherently reactive; it determines which traits persist in a population based on the environment in order to adapt."
"Traits that evolved in the previous environment, whether they were advantageous or neutral, are persistent for several generations in the new environment."
"The environment ('nature') determines ('selects') which traits will persist in a population through the mechanism of evolution by natural selection."
"Any significant change in a population's traits that cannot be attributed to other factors will be responsive to a change in that population's environment."
"The organism may decline and/or become extinct as a result of the disadvantageous trait."
"Traits that evolved in the previous environment are persistent for several generations in the new environment, but a period of 'catching-up' occurs as the population evolves to become adapted."
"Evolutionary mismatch is the evolutionary biology concept that a previously advantageous trait may become maladaptive due to change in the environment, especially when change is rapid."