2. Of Meowth and Men: Artificial Selection

08/27/24 • 40 min

Adapt or Die! The Evolutionary Biology of Pop Culture

Episode Description:
Welcome to this brand new episode of Adapt or Die! The evolutionary biology of pop culture hosted by Austin Ashbaugh. The current cultural phenomenon we are discussing this season is Pokémon and todays episode is focused on the normal type. Our evolutionary connection to the normal type is artificial selection. In the Safari Zone, I get into examples of artificial selection with Zigzagoon and Meowth providing excellent case studies. During the pokémon professors rant I appropriately rant about how Furfrou was a terrible idea to show paegentry and Pidove was robbed. Lastly, we will end todays episode with describing a regional variant of Budew with a Tyrogue like evolution chain and results from our latest pokémon spectacular competition. Sit back and relax in a chair older than yourself, open an old dusty tome, and join me as we adapt or die!
Link to Google Slides of Pokémon discussed in this episode
Follow Adapt or Die! on Instagram for regular updates
Follow Austin on Twitter and Instagram
Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen
Resources cited for research in this episode:
1. Secord, J. A. (1981). Nature's fancy: Charles Darwin and the breeding of pigeons. _Isis_, _72_(2), 163-186.
2. Shapiro, B. (2017). Pathways to de‐extinction: how close can we get to resurrection of an extinct species?. _Functional Ecology_, _31_(5), 996-1002.
3. Sinding, M. H. S., & Gilbert, M. T. P. (2016). The draft genome of extinct European aurochs and its implications for de-extinction. _Open Quaternary_, _2_, 7-7.
4. Sol, D. (2008). Artificial selection, naturalization, and fitness: Darwin's pigeons revisited. _Biological Journal of the Linnean Society_, _93_(4), 657-665.
5. https://evolution.berkeley.edu/lines-of-evidence/artificial-selection/
6. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Artificial_Pok%C3%A9mon
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemonconspiracies/comments/axagi7/the_galar_region_is_based_in_norse_and/
8. https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-sm/052.shtml
9. https://www.serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/meowth/#
10.

Follow Adapt or Die! on Instagram for regular updates
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Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen

Previous Episode

1. The Eye of the Tauros: The Survival of the Fittest

Episode Description:
Welcome to this brand new episode of Adapt or Die! The evolutionary biology of pop culture hosted by Austin Ashbaugh. The current cultural phenomenon we are discussing this season is Pokémon and todays episode is focused on the Fighting type. Our evolutionary connection to the fighting type is the survival of the fittest. In the Safari Zone, I get into the requirements for Evolution by Natural selection using Paldean Tauros as an example. During the pokémon professors rant I talk about epigenetics and how I could have saved hours shiny chaining as a child. Lastly, we will end todays episode with describing a new regional form of Mightyena and results from our latest pokémon spectacular competition. Sit back and relax in a chair older than yourself, open an old dusty tome, and join me as we adapt or die!
Link to Google Slides of Pokémon discussed in this episode
Follow Adapt or Die! on Instagram for regular updates
Follow Austin on Twitter and Instagram
Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen
Resources cited for research in this episode:
1. Bellen HJ, Tong C, Tsuda H. 100 years of Drosophila research and its impact on vertebrate neuroscience: a history lesson for the future. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010 Jul;11(7):514-22. doi: 10.1038/nrn2839. PMID: 20383202; PMCID: PMC4022039.
2. Darwin, C. (1859). _On the origin of species: A facsimile of the first edition_. Harvard University Press.
3. Drea C. M., Place N. J., Weldele M. L., Coscia E. M., Licht P. and Glickman S. E. 2002Exposure to naturally circulating androgens during foetal life incurs direct reproductive costs in female spotted hyenas, but is prerequisite for male matingProc. R. Soc. Lond. B.2691981–1987
4. Herrel, A., Joly, D., & Danchin, E. (2020). Epigenetics in ecology and evolution. _Functional Ecology_, _34_(2), 381-384.
5. Hungwe, C. (2017). Of crocodiles, Magumaguma, Hyenas, and Malayitsha: Zimbabweans crossing the Limpopo in search of a better life in South Africa. In _TMC2017 Conference Proceedings_ (pp. 363-371). Transnational Press London.
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Next Episode

3. The Last of Us - Paras edition: Coevolution

Episode Description:
Welcome to this brand new episode of Adapt or Die! The evolutionary biology of pop culture hosted by Austin Ashbaugh. The current cultural phenomenon we are discussing this season is Pokémon and todays episode is focused on the grass type. Our evolutionary connection to the normal type is coevolution.
In the Safari Zone, I get into how symbiotic relationships evolve with a few different grass type case studies. During the pokémon professors rant, I appropriately rant about how we need more coevolution informed evolution lines. Lastly, we will end todays episode with describing a regional variant of the croagunk and morelull evolutionary lines and results from our latest pokémon spectacular competition. Sit back and relax in a chair older than yourself, open an old dusty tome, and join me as we adapt or die!
Link to Google Slides of Pokémon discussed in this episode
Follow Adapt or Die! on Instagram for regular updates
Follow Austin on Twitter and Instagram
Have a pop culture ecology or evolutionary biology question you want answered? Submit your questions and ideas here for a chance to have your topic researched and discussed on the podcast!
Song credits: Music by Gregor Quendel from Pixabay
Logo design: Austin Ashbaugh, Chase Ashbaugh, Xander Allen
Resources cited for research in this episode:
1. Alexandersson, R., & Johnson, S. D. (2002). Pollinator–mediated selection on flower–tube length in a hawkmoth–pollinated Gladiolus (Iridaceae). _Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences_, _269_(1491), 631-636
2. Bush, G. L. (1992). Host race formation and sympatric speciation in Rhagoletis fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae). _Psyche: A Journal of Entomology_, _99_(4), 335-357.
3. Cartaxana, P., Morelli, L., Cassin, E., Havurinne, V., Cabral, M., & Cruz, S. (2023). Prey species and abundance affect growth and photosynthetic performance of the polyphagous sea slug Elysia crispata. _Royal Society Open Science_, _10_(8), 230810.
4. https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/User:PardescanSlowbro/Symbiotic_Relationships
5. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/red-queen-hypothesis
6. https://www.serebii.net/pokemon/type/grass/