Too simple models may predict the island rule for the wrong reasons
José Alexandre Felizola Diniz‐Filho, Shai Meiri, Joaquín Hortal, Ana M. C. Santos, Pasquale Raia
Abstract
Biddick & Burns (2021) proposed a null/neutral model that reproduces the island rule as a product of random drift. We agree that it is unnecessary to assume adaptive processes driving island dwarfing or gigantism, but several flaws make their approach unrealistic and thus unsuitable as a stochastic model for evolutionary size changes.
Topics & Concepts
Simple (philosophy)DwarfingEcologyNull modelEconometricsProduct (mathematics)Statistical physicsComputer scienceBiologyMathematical economicsMathematicsPhysicsPhilosophyEpistemologyBotanyRootstockGeometryEvolution and Genetic DynamicsGenetic diversity and population structurePhysiological and biochemical adaptations