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A Preliminary Investigation into An Evolutionary Boundary:
Testing the Potential for A Change in Energy Source In Simple Organisms
Copyright Jonathan Whitcomb |
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Introduction
Having noticed a possible discrepancy between present-day biological population ratios and the population ratios that should have arisen according to the most popular theories of organic evolution, I started constructing simulations to test how populations would have progressed in a world in which very simple organisms gave rise to more complex ones in the oceans. In the process of creating these simulations, I came across a concept which may require a reexamination of a popular tenet of general evolution. This concept, which I’ve labeled Evolutionary Boundary, seemed important enough to warrant putting off the original investigation until the newer idea could be explored. Should no reasonable fault be found in this concept, then the idea that animal life originated from organisms that obtained energy from sunlight and lived in oceans and/or other bodies of water, will need to be reexamined. Because of the potential importance of this concept, it will be examined first, instead of the earlier study on population ratios, which will be investigated later and covered in a separate paper.
This investigation on the subject of an Evolutionary Boundary uses mathematical simu- lations to test how far populations of simple organisms might increase in biological com- plexity, in particular, regarding a change in energy source.
The great majority of organisms now living are of two types: those that directly use sun- light as an energy source and those that obtain energy by consuming other organisms. Is it plausible that all members of the animal kingdom are descended from one-celled organisms that relied on sunlight for energy? Even without a theory that includes specific biological details, are there methods that could enable us to evaluate the likelihood that a major change in energy source occurred in simple one-celled organisms long ago? This investigation was undertaken with the conviction that for such an evolutionary change to have taken place, under the influence of the law of “survival of the fittest,” specific population changes must have occurred and that the plausibility of such changes can be ascertained using mathematical simulations.
This simulation is with a hypothetical planet with at least the water content of the earth. Beginning with simple one-celled organisms (relying on sunlight for energy) as the only life forms, simulations are made on the growths of sub-populations. These groups are characterized by several general types of non-harmful mutations. They are catego- rized by the general effects of those mutations. The progress in size of these sub-popula- tions are viewed with an eye to a potential for the emergence of an organism that does not rely entirely on sunlight as a direct energy source.
The object of this investigation is to search for an answer to the question: “Is it plausible for a large population of organisms, which obtain energy from sunlight and live in a large body of water, to generate, through mutations, an organism that uses an energy source other than sunlight?” I believe that the best way to approach this question may be through simulating competition among very similar organisms, especially in a bio- logically saturated environment. Therefore I have undertaken this search for all reason- able avenues of potential evolutionary changes that might answer this question in the affirmative. If no reasonable avenue is found, then I propose a reexamination of the idea that present-day animal life is descended from organisms that obtained energy from sunlight. |