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

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 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
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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.
6. Mawere, M. (2012). _Struggle of African Indigenous knowledge systems in an age of globalization : a case for children’s traditional games in South-Eastern Zimbabwe_ (1st ed.). Langaa RPCIG.
7. Richard W Burkhardt, Lamarck, Evolution, and the Inheritance of Acquired Characters, _Genetics_, Volume 194, Issue 4, 1 August 2013, Pages 793–805, [https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.151852](https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.113.151852)
8. Struhl, G. (1981). A homoeotic mutation transforming leg to antenna in Drosophila. _Nature_, _292_(5824), 635-638.
9. Franklin, R. E. (1951). Crystallite growth in graphitizing and non-graphitizing carbons. _Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences_, _209_(1097), 196-218.

Luvut

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Safari Zone: Paldean Tauros + Survival of the Fittest (00:04:35)

3. Pokémon Professor's Rant: Shiny Epigenetics (00:22:49)

4. A Wild Pokémon appeared! (00:30:51)

5. Pokémon Contest Spectactular (00:33:30)

6. Conclusion (00:36:47)