A Darwinian Demon is a hypothetical

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

that would result if there were no

biological constraints Biological constraints are factors which make populations resistant to evolutionary change. One proposed definition of constraint is "A property of a trait that, although possibly adaptive in the environment in which it originally evolved, acts to p ...

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

. Such an organism would maximize all aspects of fitness simultaneously and would exist if there were no limitations from available variation or physiological constraints. It is named for

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

. Such organisms would

reproduce Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual org ...

directly after being born, produce infinitely many offspring, and live indefinitely. Even though no such organisms exist, biologists use Darwinian Demons in

thought experiments A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most anci ...

to understand different life history strategies among different organisms. Darwinian demons (inspired by Maxwell’s demons) have been seen in many articles. It personifies an entity that is able to consciously direct an organism’s evolution, allowing it to maximize all fitness components at once. Some organisms such as duckweed and queen ants mimic Darwinian demons; however, they fall short. An organism’s acquisition of adaptations is restricted by trade-offs, gene flow and a limited source of variation.{{Citation, title=III.8. Evolutionary Limits and Constraints, date=2013-12-31, url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400848065-034, work=The Princeton Guide to Evolution, pages=247–252, publisher=Princeton University Press, doi=10.1515/9781400848065-034 , isbn=9781400848065 , access-date=2021-12-11

See also

References

Further reading