Survival of the Laziest may be the most successful strategy in evolution

Yesterday I was in a meeting about HR development in Seychelles where a business man got up and spoke for 30 minutes on laziness in the work force. But, if research is anything to go by, his workers may live longer than he does

A new study of fossil and living marine shells from the Atlantic Ocean suggests “laziness” may be a successful strategy for survival of individuals, species and even communities of species. The researchers found a difference for marine shell species that have gone extinct over the past 5 million years and ones that are still around today. Those that have gone extinct tend to have higher metabolic rates than those that are still living. In other words, those that have lower energy maintenance requirements seem more likely to survive than those organisms with higher metabolic rates, say the researchers.

This contrasts with recent research on Homo erectus, which suggests groups of this early human became extinct because of “least effort” strategies. Are we Men or are we Snails?

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-evolution-favor-survival-laziest.html

Author: Dr. Nirmal Shah

Nirmal is a well-known and a passionate personality in the Seychelles environmental and sustainability scene having an encyclopedic knowledge of Seychelles biodiversity as well as a wealth of experience in environment management. He has worked in senior positions in the parastatal, government, private and NGO sectors and consulted for international organizations such as the World Bank, IUCN, UNEP, Sida and UNESCO. He has appeared on CNN, BBC, Radio France, PBS, NBC, ABC, SABC and others View all posts by Dr. Nirmal Shah