Demography & population genetics

John Hawks has a post up, Handling exponential growth in demographic models. You might like to read it in concert with p-ter's post Modeling human demographic history. One question I have in regards to human evolutionary genetic history is this: how typical are our population dynamics up to this point for a typical sexually reproducing species? And therefore, how might that impact deviations for our species from the norm? Also, if you are interested in the intersection of evolutionary genetics and models of demography you can go back to R. A. Fisher's Genetical Theory of Natural Selection, there's a nice, if somewhat tedious, exposition of the relevance of the latter toward developing a good model of the former.

Tags

More like this

I have stated before that additive genetic variance is the relevant component of variance when modeling the response to selection in relation to a quantitative trait. In other words: Response = (additive genetic variance)/(total phenotypic variance) X Selection Consider height, which is about 80%…
A few months ago I was posting on R.A. Fisher's Genetical Theory of Natural Selection. I stopped because I was a bit confused as to what to do about the chapter on dominance, which was basically an exposition on a theory which has been falsified by the preponderance of data. In sum, R.A. Fisher…
A few weeks ago I purchased what I have since referred to as a "coffee table book for nerds," Martin Novak's Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life, a richly illustrated hardcover which is eminently browsable. In keeping with the focus of Nowak's own researches the chapters in this…
The first chapter of Evolutionary Genetics: Concepts & Case Studies gives a quick sketch of the arc of the field that the book covers via exposition of topical and current issues. Michael R. Dietrich focuses on the series of controversies which serve as "hinges of history." I have addressed…