EVOLUTION DOES NOT ALWAYS PLAY BY THE SAME RULES

Evolution is one of the most poorly understood phenomena in Nature. We know one rule, survival of the fittest. But here we fall into assumptions. We have believed that the fittest will always be the largest and strongest, but Nature knows better. Sometime less is better as in the case of the Soay sheep in Scotland. Because the smallest ones survive the winters there better, it has been observed that the sheep have shrunk 5% since 1985. As scientists make that observation, I cannot help but wonder if there aren't some other significant factors. Has the food available changed significantly. What other factors might be at play. Perhaps those who made the conclusion know what they are not sharing, if there may be anything at all.

This kind of research is extremely difficult because there cannot be strict control of the variables. Regardless of how and why it is happening, the fact remains that the sheep that survive have shrunk 5% in 23 years. For more details and the full BBC article, look here.