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Articles 301 - 327 of 327

Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Reductionism And Holism, Chance And Selection, Mechanism And Mind, Ursula Goodenough Jun 2005

Reductionism And Holism, Chance And Selection, Mechanism And Mind, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Despite its rich and deepening panoply of empirical support, evolutionary theory continues to generate widespread concern. Some of this concern can be attributed to misunderstandings of the original concept, some to unfamiliarity with its current trajectories, and some to strongly held fears that it strips the human of cherished attributes. In this essay I seek to deconstruct such misunderstandings, lift up current concepts of what evolution entails, and address some of the existential issues it generates.

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Alfred Russel Wallace: Past And Future [Guest Editorial], Charles H. Smith Jan 2005

Alfred Russel Wallace: Past And Future [Guest Editorial], Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

The naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) has for many years been standing in the shadow of his more famed co-discoverer of the principle of natural selection, Charles Darwin. Despite outward similarities between the two men’s formulation of the principle, Wallace had fit his appreciation of natural selection into views on evolution that were quite different from Darwin’s. A closer examination of what Wallace had in mind suggests a model of process in which natural selection per se acts as the negative feedback mechanism (actually, a ‘statespace’) in the relation between population and environment, and environmental engagement as made possible by …

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On The Enigmatic Distribution Of The Honduran Endemic Leptodactylus Silvanimbus (Amphibia: Anura: Lep Todactylidae), W. Ronald Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá, Sarah Muller Jan 2005

On The Enigmatic Distribution Of The Honduran Endemic Leptodactylus Silvanimbus (Amphibia: Anura: Lep Todactylidae), W. Ronald Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá, Sarah Muller

Biology Faculty Publications

Most species of the frog genus Leptodactylus occur in South America, and all authors who have treated the zoogeography of the genus have concluded that it originated somewhere in South America (e.g., Savage 1982). Savage (1982,518) summarized the historical herpetofaunal units of the Neotropics as follows: "All evidence points to an ancient contiguity and essential similarity of a generalized tropical herpetofauna that ranged over tropical North, Middle, and most of South America in Cretaceous-Paleocene times. Descendents of this fauna are represented today by the South and Middle American tracks (Elements). To the north of this fauna ranged a subtropical-temperate Laurasian …

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Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913), Charles H. Smith Jan 2004

Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913), Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Trying To Fix The Development In Evolutionary Developmental Psychology, David S. Moore Jul 2003

Trying To Fix The Development In Evolutionary Developmental Psychology, David S. Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

If we agree for a moment that there is such a thing as human nature, we immediately encounter an extraordinarily thorny question: Where does our nature come from? This question drives David Bjorklund and Anthony Pellegrini’s new book The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology. The question is so challenging, in part, because human nature reflects at least two conceptually distinct processes: evolution and development. The former, which operates across generations, allows the continued existence of characteristics that permitted survival and reproduction in our ancestors; the latter, which operates during a person’s lifetime, contributes to the appearance of …

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Reconstructing Cetacean Brain Evolution Using Computed Tomography, Lori Marino, Mark D. Uhen, Nicholas D. Pyenson, Bruno Frohlich May 2003

Reconstructing Cetacean Brain Evolution Using Computed Tomography, Lori Marino, Mark D. Uhen, Nicholas D. Pyenson, Bruno Frohlich

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Until recently, there have been relatively few studies of brain mass and morphology in fossil cetaceans (dolphins, whales, and porpoises) because of difficulty accessing the matrix that fills the endocranial cavity of fossil cetacean skulls. As a result, our knowledge about cetacean brain evolution has been quite limited. By applying the noninvasive technique of computed tomography (CT) to visualize, measure, and reconstruct the endocranial morphology of fossil cetacean skulls, we can gain vastly more information at an unprecedented rate about cetacean brain evolution. Here, we discuss our method and demonstrate it with several examples from our fossil cetacean database. This …

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Linking Dispersal To Local Population Dynamics: A Case Study Using A Headwater Salamander System, Winsor H. Lowe Jan 2003

Linking Dispersal To Local Population Dynamics: A Case Study Using A Headwater Salamander System, Winsor H. Lowe

Dartmouth Scholarship

Dispersal can strongly influence local population dynamics and may be critical to species persistence in fragmented landscapes. Theory predicts that dispersal by resident stream organisms is necessary to offset the loss of individuals to downstream drift. However, there is a lack of empirical data linking dispersal and drift to local population dynamics in streams, leading to uncertainty regarding the general demographic significance of these processes and the power of drift to explain observed dispersal patterns. I assessed the contribution of dispersal along a first-order stream to population dynamics of the headwater salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus (Plethodontidae). I conducted mark–recapture surveys of …

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Proprioception, Non-Law, And Biolegal History, Owen D. Jones Dec 2001

Proprioception, Non-Law, And Biolegal History, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article explores several advantages of incorporating into law various insights from behavioral biology about how and why the brain works as it does. In particular, the Article explores the ways in which those insights can help illuminate the deep structure of human legal systems. That effort is termed "biolegal history."

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Out Of Africa: Origins Of The Taenia Tapeworms In Humans, Eric P. Hoberg, Nancy L. Alkire, Alan De Queiroz, Arlene Jones Jan 2001

Out Of Africa: Origins Of The Taenia Tapeworms In Humans, Eric P. Hoberg, Nancy L. Alkire, Alan De Queiroz, Arlene Jones

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Phylogenetic and divergence date analyses indicate that the occurrence of Taenia tapeworms in humans pre-dates the development of agriculture, animal husbandry and domestication of cattle (Bos spp.) or swine (Sus scrofa) Taeniid tapeworms in Africa twice independently colonized hominids and the genus Homo prior to the origin of modern humans. Dietary and behavioural shifts, from herbivory to scavenging and carnivory, as early Homo entered the carnivore guild in the Pliocene/Pleistocene, were drivers for host switching by tapeworms to hominids from carnivores including hyaenids and felids. Parasitological data provide a unique means of elucidating the historical ecology, foraging behavior …

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The Tadpole Of Pseudis Minuta (Anura: Pseudidae), An Apparent Case Of Heterochrony, Rafael O. De Sá, Esteban O. Lavilla Jan 1997

The Tadpole Of Pseudis Minuta (Anura: Pseudidae), An Apparent Case Of Heterochrony, Rafael O. De Sá, Esteban O. Lavilla

Biology Faculty Publications

The external morphology, oral disc, and coloration pattern of the larva of Pseudis minuta are described. Tadpoles are mostly bottom dwellers that have a small, terminal oral disc with a labial tooth row formula 1(1-1)/(1-1)2. Internal oral anatomy is characterized using scanning electron microscopy, representing the only description available for the family Pseudidae. The coloration pattern of P. minuta tadpoles is compared with that of other pseudids. Pseudis minuta larvae do not exhibit the ontogenetic coloration change reported for P. paradoxa. Considering larval coloration, larval size, and reports of adult size, acceleration or hypermorphosis are suggested as possible heterochronic mechanisms …

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Biology: What One Needs To Know, Ursula Goodenough Dec 1996

Biology: What One Needs To Know, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Biology on this planet represents an astonishing experiment in carbon-based chemistry which, over billions of years, has generated billions of species adapted to countless major and minor fluctuations in ecological circumstances. In one sense there is no way to generalize about biology. While biological activities can all be ultimately explained by physical laws (like everything else in the universe), it is the emergent intensely particular properties of organisms that most interest us. This essay represents an attempt to describe some of the more prominent patterns that emerge from the sea of biological particularities, patterns that present many opportunities for religious …

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"Introduction" (To Alfred Russel Wallace; An Anthology Of His Shorter Writings), Charles H. Smith Jan 1991

"Introduction" (To Alfred Russel Wallace; An Anthology Of His Shorter Writings), Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Book Review Of Evolution As Religion, Carl J. Bajema Mar 1987

Book Review Of Evolution As Religion, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

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Origins Debate: Part Iii - A Suggested Answer, Russell W. Maatman Sep 1986

Origins Debate: Part Iii - A Suggested Answer, Russell W. Maatman

Pro Rege

For part 1 see Pro Rege vol. 14, March 1986, pp. 2-9. For part 2 see Pro Rege vol. 14, June 1986, pp. 9-19.

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Origins Debate: Part Ii - Removing Peripheral Questions, Russell W. Maatman Jun 1986

Origins Debate: Part Ii - Removing Peripheral Questions, Russell W. Maatman

Pro Rege

For part 1 see Pro Rege vol. 14, March 1986, pp. 2-9. For part 3 see Pro Rege vol. 15, September 1986, pp. 22-30.

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Origins Debate: Part I - Background, Russell W. Maatman Mar 1986

Origins Debate: Part I - Background, Russell W. Maatman

Pro Rege

For part 2 see Pro Rege vol. 14, June 1986, pp. 9-19. For part 3 see Pro Rege vol. 15, September 1986, pp. 22-30.

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Book Review Of "The Little Universe Of Man" By C. D. Darlington, Carl J. Bajema Dec 1979

Book Review Of "The Little Universe Of Man" By C. D. Darlington, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

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Plant Dioecy, Ecology, Evolution And Sex Reversal, D. Carl Freeman Aug 1977

Plant Dioecy, Ecology, Evolution And Sex Reversal, D. Carl Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

The distribution of dioecious species among forty-four plant communities of western United States was examined. The dioecious habit is most prevalent in harsh environments. In many communities, over 20 percent of the species and 40 percent of the individuals are dioecious. Dioecy is most common among woody species which are pollinated by wind. It is concluded that inbreeding depression alone is insufficient to account for all known facts concerning dioecy. Disruptive selection acting upon differential success of gametes produced on sites of differing quality appears to have played a major role in producing separate sexed individuals. Dioecious species reported to …

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Some Interactions In The Evolution Of Man And Tools, Gary W. Weston Aug 1971

Some Interactions In The Evolution Of Man And Tools, Gary W. Weston

All Master's Theses

This paper looks at some of the interactions between the development of tools and the evolution of man and his ancestors. It begins with a brief history of life up to the primates as a foundation. Next the use of tools by other animals is examined followed by the coverage of the period of time from Australopithecus to Modern Man showing the interweaving of physical and mental evolution of man and the development and refinement in his physical tools. Lastly, a look at possible future interactions in the physical and mental evolutionary developments in man as influenced by his tools …

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4. Social Darwinism, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart Jan 1958

4. Social Darwinism, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XV: Biology and the Rise of the Social Sciences

The singular impact of Darwin in fields other than biology can be attributed largely to one man, Herbert Spencer (1820- 1903). It was Spencer, not Darwin, who coined the expression "survival of the fittest." Although neglected today except by historians of the nineteenth century thought, Spencer's influence on his own time was so great that Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was able to wonder if "any writer of English except Darwin has done so much to affect our whole way of thinking about the universe." Herbert Spencer was born into a traditionally nonconformist English family of modest means. He refused a …

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2. The Impact Of Darwinism On Religion, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart Jan 1958

2. The Impact Of Darwinism On Religion, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XV: Biology and the Rise of the Social Sciences

The tremendous impact of evolution upon Western religious thought resulted in large part from the sweeping implications of the theory itself, which challenged the basic tenets of traditional dogma. It is difficult to understand the nature and intensity of the controversy that developed, however, if it is not understood that the challenge was given additional weight by the ascendency of science in the nineteenth century. In considering the influence of Darwin's findings on religion, as on other areas of thought, it should be kept in mind that the theory of evolution was presented to a world that was observing a …

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3. Darwinism And The Rise Of Social Science, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart Jan 1958

3. Darwinism And The Rise Of Social Science, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XV: Biology and the Rise of the Social Sciences

The two areas of the social sciences which were more stimulated by Darwin's research were anthropology and sociology. The Frenchman, Auguste Comte (1798-1857), generally regarded as the father of sociology and the originator of that term, laid the groundwork for the immediate application of the law of evolution to the study of society. Comte's conception of sociology is derived from his philosophy of history. Sharing the Enlightenment belief in progress, Comte saw history evolving through three stages. The first was the theological stage, in which men supplied supernatural explanations for the natural and social phenomena. This was followed bu what …

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5. Social Darwinism Reconsidered, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart Jan 1958

5. Social Darwinism Reconsidered, Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold L. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, W. Richard Schubart

Section XV: Biology and the Rise of the Social Sciences

Although the contemporary reaction to the implications of evolution was generally one of long-term optimism, an antithetical reaction did exist. Seen in stark terms, evolutionary theories were depressing to those who, on religious or humanitarian grounds, found the reduction of life to an irrational and brutal struggle for existence disturbing and provocative. There was, however, an important body of thought which accepted Darwin's findings without embracing the social or ethical implications of Social Darwinism. Many who studied Darwin came to the conclusion that it was possible to concede that man is an animal, but an animal capable of moral and …

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Rationalists In Retreat, W. E. Filmer Jan 1948

Rationalists In Retreat, W. E. Filmer

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

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Recent Opinions Of Biologists On Evolution: 2nd Edition, Evolution Protest Movement Jan 1948

Recent Opinions Of Biologists On Evolution: 2nd Edition, Evolution Protest Movement

Stone-Campbell Books

No abstract provided.

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Embryology And Evolution, Malo Marius Amunson Jun 1906

Embryology And Evolution, Malo Marius Amunson

Manuscript Thesis Collection

The proofs of evolution must be sought in the entire field of science. Direct proof is found in the study of Morphology, whose bases are comparative anatomy; embryology; in the study of paleontology, of geology, of geographical distribution, in the study of nature and experiments of today. In this vast field of direct proofs of evolution it is our purpose to present some of the evidences of evolution as furnished by one of these, namely, Comparative Embryology.

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The Voice Of The Phi Sigma -- 1889 -- Vol. 11, No. 05, Phi Sigma Oct 1889

The Voice Of The Phi Sigma -- 1889 -- Vol. 11, No. 05, Phi Sigma

The Voice of the Phi Sigma

This item is part of the Phi Sigma collection at the College Archives & Special Collections department of Columbia College Chicago. Contact [email protected] for more information and to view the collection.

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