Going to heaven more than the other guy?

[Cynic]

Well 'evolution' doesn't answer why, as I said it describes a process, which as I said would be a 'how'. As a part of the process and answering the specific of 'why' in relation to colouration a more correct answer would be 'adaptation' i.e.

Isn't adaptation a process?

The reason some ducks are brown etc. is because their colouration made them more succesful in reproductive success. This would answer the reason why 'some ducks..' etc. To extend the question this would also answer why the demographic and ratio of said ducks varies in different environments. The underlying cause is not a singularity, it is a complex of environmental factors, thus 'why' would not be fitting for the 'underlying cause', as the likelihood is that the factors are multiple. The cause is not evolution, evolution is what occurs due to causation.

So the reason why some ducks are brown, some white, and some black, is not because of evolution, it's because of adaptation?

 

[Nehustan]

I said a more correct answer, not a perfect one. The reason 'why' the difference in colours exist in the demographic is because its fits them to that environment. If all environments were the same no doubt over time and due to evolution and adaptation the variety in the gene pool would diminish, if the variety no longer served a purpose. The reason why 'adaptation' is a more suitable description is because an individual/s can be said to be better adapted to a specific environment, whereas evolution is said to take place at the level of a breeding population and as an ongoing process, with factors like predation, migration etc. taken into account.

(as a post script I guess you could say 'better evolved', tho' it certainly doesn't sound right to me.)

 

[Cynic]

I said a more correct answer, not a perfect one. The reason 'why' the difference in colours exist in the demographic is because its fits them to that environment. If all environments were the same no doubt over time and due to evolution and adaptation the variety in the gene pool would diminish, if the variety no longer served a purpose. The reason why 'adaptation' is a more suitable description is because an individual/s can be said to be better adapted to a specific environment, whereas evolution is said to take place at the level of a breeding population and as an ongoing process, with factors like predation, migration etc. taken into account.

(as a post script I guess you could say 'better evolved', tho' it certainly doesn't sound right to me.)

Oh I see. I had thought that adaptation was included in the evolutionary process.....

 

[Nehustan]

You're right it is, but individuals can be adapted i.e better or worse, but they cannot evolve, that happens through generations and at the level of the population. A brown duck in a forest is better adapted than a white one, until it snows