Nature 221, 1076 (15 March 1969); doi:10.1038/2211076a0

Mean Fitness Increases when Fitnesses are Additive

W. J. EWENS

Department of Mathematics, La Trobe University, Melbourne.

FISHER'S fundamental theorem of natural selection¹ states that for a random mating population with fitnesses dependent on the genetic constitution at a single locus, the mean fitness of the population increases with time. This is true for an arbitrary number of possible alleles at the locus and for arbitrary fitness values.

1. Fisher, R. A. , The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (Oxford University Press, 1930).
2. Moran, P. A. P. , Ann. Hum. Genet., 27, 383 (1964). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
3. Moran, P. A. P. , Proc. Fifth Berk. Symp. Math. Stat. and Prob. (Univ. California Press, 1965).
4. Kingman, J. F. C. , Quart. J. Math., 12, 78 (1961). | ISI |
5. Moran, P. A. P. , Ann. Hum. Genet, (in the press).