Mistakes of Nature: The Limits and Imperfection of Natural Selection

During evolution, species perfectly adapt to the conditions of their environment, right? Well, sometimes that’s not the case. But think about this: an elephant doesn’t grow a seventh set of teeth, although once the sixth set wears out, it will be doomed to starvation; birds whose nests are infiltrated by cuckoo eggs cannot distinguish the monster oversized chick in the nest from their own offspring; and even though whales became fully aquatic mammals millions of years ago, they still haven’t learned to breathe underwater.

This book is about evolution, but not its greatest achievements. On the contrary, it examines all sorts of evolutionary solutions that can be called suicidal, unsuccessful, uneconomical, or frankly bizarre, and explains why natural selection favors all of this. Some surprising patterns emerge in the grand struggle for survival: animals always lag behind changes in their environment; inefficiency tends to increase over time; predators usually lose, while parasites win. Skillfully blending humor and scientific insight, Andy Dobson in his book reveals the limits of evolutionary possibilities and the price that must be paid for it.