Comment on How do trees know?

• qprimed@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  as, for example an elm or maple? a random mutation may have provided a small spur to a seed. the spur changed the trajectory of the falling seed and may have allowed it to fall further from the parent plant and into a more ideal growing environment for simply further afield, which would allow it to slightly out-complete others.

  if this change proved sucessful over time, then the mutation would likely get more pronounced as long as it continued to improve the plants fitness for its environment. 100,000 years later you have seeds with glide wings.

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  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Makes sense. I realize the first part of the Q was simplistic. And I should have known (I did) the answer. It’s the design I’m most perplexed by - not the why, the how. I guess this would be the simplest way to explain it.

    Still, that birds, insects, and trees, all have wings… It’ll never not be mind blowing.

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    • thebestaquaman@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You could look up some videos on “mutation design” which is a stochastic design method, which is basically used to design structures (like drone bodies) by using random mutations. It really shows how evolution works in real time.

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