Dictionary of Human Evolution and Biology

Dictionary of Human Evolution and Biology

Lottery Hypothesis

Proposal to explain why sexual reproduction and the diversity of genotypes it produces is advantageous; this is similar to a lottery in that it is advantageous to select a diverse series of numbers rather than a great quantity of the same number. According to this hypothesis the environment serves as a lottery because it changes and favors diversity over homogeneity.

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killer ape hypothesis (... and man the hunter hypothesis. Cf. gathering.)
operational hypothesis (... or falsify the operational hypothesis. Aka alternative hypothesis.)
Pleistocene extinction hypotheses (135 species of New World megafauna became extinct within four centuries c. 12kya. There have ...)
hypotheses (... homology hypothesis, the uniform convergence hypothesis, and the uniform rate hypothesis.)
alternative hypothesis (... a corresponding null hypothesis fails. Aka the operational hypothesis. See hypothesis testing.)