Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have

Last updated: 7/5/2022

Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these losses? Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these structures presented greater costs than benefits. Natural selection accounts for these losses by the principle of use and disuse. Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for innovations. The ancestors of these organisms experienced harmful mutations that forced them to find new habitats that these species had not previously used.