
Short Abstract This study reexamines the origin of biological diversity by framing it as a generated structural phenomenon rather than a gradual outcome of Darwinian evolution. While natural selection effectively explains the stabilization and fixation of traits in established ecosystems, it does not fully account for the large-scale generation of extreme and seemingly anomalous biological forms. Focusing on the environmental conditions of early Earth during the LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor) period, this paper argues that intense radiation, weak geomagnetic shielding, and the absence of an ozone layer created a high-energy environment in which genetic perturbations were persistent rather than exceptional. Under such conditions, generational turnover itself functioned as a large-scale exploratory process of genetic information, leading inevitably to extensive biological diversity. On this basis, evolution is reformulated as a two-phase process consisting of a diversity-generation phase driven by environmental perturbation and a subsequent stabilization phase governed by natural selection. This framework provides a coherent reinterpretation of early diversification events, including the Cambrian radiation and the establishment of major biological lineages. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1530-4234 Japanese Abstract 本研究は、生物多様性の起源を「進化の結果」ではなく、「生成された構造的現象」として再検討するものである。従来のダーウィン進化論は、自然選択による形質の選別と固定を説明する点で高い有効性を持つ一方で、なぜ極端かつ奇怪な形態を含む多様性が大量に生じ得たのかという生成過程については十分に扱ってこなかった。本稿はこの説明の空白に対し、LUCA(最終共通祖先)期の初期地球環境に着目し、オゾン層未形成・磁場不安定・高放射線環境という高エネルギー条件下において、遺伝情報の攪乱が常態化していた可能性を検討する。その結果、生物多様性は稀な突然変異の累積ではなく、世代交代そのものが大規模な遺伝情報探索として機能したことによって必然的に生成されたと解釈できることを示す。さらに本研究は、進化を「多様性の生成フェーズ」と「自然選択による安定化フェーズ」から成る二段階構造として再定式化し、カンブリア紀の生命多様化や植物系統の成立を含む広範な進化現象を統一的に理解する枠組みを提示する。
Evolutionary Biology, biological diversity, early Earth environment, high-energy radiation, LUCA, genetic perturbation, mutation rate, evolutionary theory, natural selection, two-phase evolution, Cambrian radiation, Philosophy of Biology, FOS: Biological sciences, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences
Evolutionary Biology, biological diversity, early Earth environment, high-energy radiation, LUCA, genetic perturbation, mutation rate, evolutionary theory, natural selection, two-phase evolution, Cambrian radiation, Philosophy of Biology, FOS: Biological sciences, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences
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