What long-term experiments/studies/programs have been done on evolution and selection? I’ve read about the long-term E. Coli evolution experiment, but this seemed rather “undirected”, and I suppose rather than “natural” (undirected) selection, I’m talking about “artificial” or “directed” selection. For example- has any scientist bred generation after generation of rat, selecting only the largest (or smartest, or whatever), to see how large (smart etc) rats can get?
One long-term “study” that I think fits what I’m asking for is the Tame Silver Foxbreeding program. Are there others?
Yes, there are tons. This is getting to be a more-or-less routine methodology to look at, well, evolution, as well as a handful of other questions. I was at a conference not long ago where I heard about an experiment with fruit flies evolving at different temperatures, resulting in their cell membrane compositions changing.
Probably most human-directed selection programs are often called “agriculture”, “animal husbandry” or “dog/horse/X breeding”. Amazing how much more productive modern corn is than its wild ancestor, and how dog breeding has resulted in such diversity.
