Post: #1

Mice like Rabbits live in an r-selected environment as a result of predation and as a result with more resources relative to population as a result of predation they never reach carrying capacity. They remain healthy as a whole and their population remains sustainable. Being an r-selected species they are less complex than K-selected organisms and they pump out many offspring per female in comparison.


As you are all aware Mice Utopia was a complete failure in terms of the sustainability of the health and wellbeing of the mice population. Unlimited resources with no predation ensued that Mice exhibit all the problems as shown in the experiment.

I am thinking that since Utopia was an utter failure with the way organisms work. I am curious as to what happens when Mice without predation are allowed to reach carrying capacity. And that resources are limited although evenly distributed. Imposing K-selection on an r-selected species.

Can an r-selected species be induced to become more K as a result? It would be interesting to see the experiment carried out.

Post: #2

Sounds like what communist societies did. Everyone except the elites at the top and the gulag population at the bottom gets a small but livable amount of rationed goods to live their lives. My guess is that the mice would organize themselves into a similar structure of stronger and weaker castes, with constant, violent competition (like an endless game of musical chairs) as the population oscillates below and above carrying capacity. It's certainly possible that the mice would fine-tune themselves to the new constraints of this unnatural economic structure, much the way that people fine-tuned themselves to the structures established by tribes and civilizations.

Post: #3

(02-14-2017 11:57 PM)Lunostrelki Wrote:  Sounds like what communist societies did. Everyone except the elites at the top and the gulag population at the bottom gets a small but livable amount of rationed goods to live their lives. My guess is that the mice would organize themselves into a similar structure of stronger and weaker castes, with constant, violent competition (like an endless game of musical chairs) as the population oscillates below and above carrying capacity. It's certainly possible that the mice would fine-tune themselves to the new constraints of this unnatural economic structure, much the way that people fine-tuned themselves to the structures established by tribes and civilizations.

It goes to show that living organisms cannot handle living in paradise if that entails endless resources yet no predation to reduce genetic load that organisms must either be preyed upon or must be put in a competitive situation to ensure fitness and survival.

With the reality of genetic corruption these are the only 2 ways to go.

I am intrigued if such a selective pressure would lead to more complex mice related organisms down the generations given the reality of mutation.

Perhaps only with a large enough population with slowly increasing but limited resources and with selective pressures playing itself out on a large enough genetic diversity as a result of mutation we will see the results.