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The Escalation Hypothesis is an evolutionary theory in biology put forward by Geerat J. Vermeij. It states that organisms are in constant conflict with one another and therefore devote many resources to thwarting the adaptations
evolution
Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
brings to all competing organisms as time advances. This is in contrast to adaptations evolution may bring that are unrelated to competition with other organisms such as adapting to ecological niches based upon other factors such as geology and climate.
Vermeij's extensive work with the characteristics of marine
gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
fossils informed his development of thoughts on escalation. One prediction of the Escalation Hypothesis is that individual species having fewer adaptations that enable them to compete with other life forms are more likely to survive a mass
extinction event
An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...
such as one of The Big Five. This is because there is more flexibility to fit into new ecological niches that arduous adaptations such as heavy shells or energy consuming venom production would hinder.
External links
On Escalation by Geerat J. Vermeij doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-050212-124123 Evolutionary biology