Evolution by means of natural selection without reproduction: revamping Lewontin’s account

Abstract

This paper analyzes recent attempts to reject reproduction with lineage formation as a necessary condition for evolution by means of natural selection (Bouchard in Philos Sci 75(5):560–570, 2008; Stud Hist Philos Sci Part C Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci 42(1):106–114, 2011; Bourrat in Biol Philos 29(4):517–538, 2014; Br J Philos Sci 66(4):883–903, 2015; Charbonneau in Philos Sci 81(5):727–740, 2014; Doolittle and Inkpen in Proc Natl Acad Sci 115(16):4006–4014, 2018). Building on the strengths of these attempts and avoiding their pitfalls, it is argued that a robust formulation of evolution by natural selection without reproduction can be established. The main contribution of this paper is a reformulation of Lewontin’s three principles (Lewontin in Annu Rev Ecol Syst 1:1–18, 1970) stating that minimal evolution by natural selection occurs when two conditions are met in a population: fitness-related variation and memory (population-level inheritance). Paradigmatic evolution by natural selection, which can generate adaptations, takes place when an additional condition is present, namely regeneration.