ABSTRACT
The central problem in evolutionary biology is to elucidate the long-term process of evolution because it is this process that has produced the diversity of life. Thus it is essential to distinguish procedures that can provide direct evidence about the workings of long-term evolution from those that cannot. Teleonomic studies do not typically include analysis of the evolutionary origin of adaptations, that is, the phenotypic precursors that were modified by directional selection over long-term evolution into complex features with identifiable purposeful designs. Instead teleonomy focuses on the understanding of phenotypic design and thus the forces of selection responsible for adaptation. Teleonomic hypotheses attempt to identify the nature of selection that may have built an adaptation. The predictions of a hypothesis are necessary consequences of the hypothesis. The evolutionary stable strategy approach is a direct method for study of adaptation. It is specifically formulated to provide hypotheses for the evolution of adaptations by frequency-dependent selection.
