| Phenotypic Plasticity |
Capacity of a genotype to produce different
phenotypes in response to environmental cues |
Allows rapid, reversible adaptation; may precede
genetic changes |
West-Eberhard
(2003) |
| Epigenetic Inheritance |
Transmission of gene expression patterns via DNA
methylation, histone modification, etc. |
Enables non-genetic adaptation; revives soft
inheritance concepts |
Jablonka and Lamb (2005);
Bonduriansky and Day
(2009) |
| Developmental Bias |
Certain phenotypes are more likely due to
constraints or propensities in developmental systems |
Not all variation is random; evolution is shaped by
developmental dynamics |
Müller (2007); Pigliucci (2007) |
| Niche Construction |
Organisms modify their environments in ways that
influence their own evolution |
Feedback loop between organisms and environments;
breaks nature/nurture dualism |
Odling-Smee et al.
(2003) |
| Inclusive Inheritance |
Broadens heredity to include genetic, epigenetic,
ecological, and cultural transmissions |
Inheritance is multilayered and
context-dependent |
Laland et al.
(2015) |
| Symbiosis and Holobionts |
Organisms evolve in tight association with
symbiotic partners (microbiome, virome, etc.) |
Challenges individualistic views of evolution;
emphasizes community-level selection |
Gilbert et al. (2012b);
Bordenstein and Theis
(2015) |
| Facilitated Variation |
Conserved core processes allow evolutionary
innovation through recombination of modular systems |
Explains evolvability and the emergence of
complexity |
Gerhart and Kirschner
(2007) |
| Cultural and Behavioral Inheritance |
Behaviors and learned information passed across
generations influencing fitness |
Particularly important in humans and other social
species |
Laland and Brown
(2002) |
| Reciprocal Causation |
Evolutionary processes involve feedbacks where
cause and effect are not strictly linear |
Evolution is dynamic, co-constructed, and
context-sensitive |
Laland et al. (2015);
Uller and Laland
(2019) |
| Extended Organism |
Organisms build structures (nests, burrows, webs)
that influence selection and are part of phenotype |
Redefines phenotype to include ecological
structures |
Jablonka and Lamb (2005);
Dawkins (2004) |
| Dissipative Structures |
Organisms as open, far-from-equilibrium systems
that sustain internal order by continuous energy throughput and
entropy export |
Embeds thermodynamic constraints in evolutionary
innovation; explains emergence of hierarchical complexity via
non-equilibrium dynamics |
Prigogine and Stengers
(1984); Kleidon and
Lorenz (2005); Kondepudi et al. (2020) |
