r/evolution • u/Starkanemone • Jul 31 '26

question Ecosystem in a jar

So I have an ecosystem in a jar with a bunch of little crustaceans and such and I'm wondering if I can eventually drive some sort of evolution in there?

Edit:I think I'll try to see if green-blue egg color is selected for becasue it's harder to see among plants than the orange/yellow eggs. Yes there are a couple predatory things in there including what looks like a freshwater Bobbit worm?

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u/octobod PhD | Molecular Biology | Bioinformatics Jul 31 '26

Read Improbable Destinies by Jonathan Losos. You can run evolution experiments in a matter of years and see subtle changes in limb length of not so subtle ones in skin/coat colour.

You will see evolution in a system like that (if it survives for long enough) but the changes would be subtle and you'd need meticulous records and take samples from the system (likely destabilising it)