Symbol n
n is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.
Read this term in its guide →Published equation contexts
Why this formula appears here
which gives n 363{,}992 generations [ 4 ] . Assuming a generation time of one year, common for small and medium-sized aquatic animals, the authors state the headline result directly: a camera eye could evolve from a light-sensitive patch in less than 364,000 years [ 4 ] . Measured against a fossil record that places the first animal eyes at roughly the early Cambrian, about 550 million years ago, that is short enough for the transformation to have run more than fifteen hundred times over in the time actually available [ 4 ] .
Read the representative guide
How to interpret it
Its accuracy depends on the assumptions and range of use described in the article.
Research cited beside this formula
Published contexts (1)
A symbol can carry a different meaning in another article. Each occurrence keeps its own guide and term definitions.
Equation 3 · Evolutionary Biology
One Gene, Forty Eyes: What Evo-Devo Did to the Convergence Story
This equation gives an approximation: it relates the quantities while allowing an approximation.
which gives n 363{,}992 generations [ 4 ] . Assuming a generation time of one year, common for small and medium-sized aquatic animals, the authors state the headline result directly: a camera eye could evolve from a light-sensitive patch in less than 364,000 years [ 4 ] . Measured against a fossil record that places the first animal eyes at roughly the early Cambrian, about 550 million years ago, that is short enough for the transformation to have run more than fifteen hundred times over in the time actually available [ 4 ] .
Equation guide → · Article →