Evolution Commons^™

Bits And Particles: Information And Machines Sufficient To Infer An Intelligent Designer, Timothy G. Standish

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Contributions To Creation Theory From The Study Of Nature, L. James Gibson

Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

No abstract provided.

Discounting And Reciprocity In An Iterated Prisoner’S Dilemma, David W. Stephens, Colleen M. Mclinn, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (IPD) is a central paradigm in the study of animal cooperation. According to the IPD framework, repeated play (repetition) and reciprocity combine to maintain a cooperative equilibrium. However, experimental studies with animals suggest that cooperative behavior in IPDs is unstable, and some have suggested that strong preferences for immediate benefits (that is, temporal discounting) might explain the fragility of cooperative equilibria. We studied the effects of discounting and strategic reciprocity on cooperation in captive blue jays. Our results demonstrate an interaction between discounting and reciprocity. Blue jays show high stable levels of cooperation in treatments with …

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."

Genomes, Gould, And Emergence, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

The publication of the human genome has elicited commentary to the effect that, since fewer genes were identified than anticipated, it follows that genes are less important to human biology than anticipated. The flaws in this syllogism are explained in the context of a treatise on how genomes operate and evolve and how genes function to produce embryos and brains. Most of our most cherished human traits are the result of the emergence of new properties from preexisting genetically scripted ideas, offering countless opportunities to celebrate the evolutionary process.

The Evolution Of Irrationality, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The place of the rational actor model in the analysis of individual and social behavior relevant to law remains unresolved. In recent years, scholars have sought frameworks to explain: a) disjunctions between seemingly rational behavior and seemingly irrational behavior; b) the origins of and influences on law-relevant preferences, and c) the nonrandom development of norms. This Article explains two components of an evolutionary framework that, building from accessible insights of behavioral biology, can encompass all three. The components are: "time-shifted rationality" and "the law of law's leverage."

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 …

An Account Of Novice Phylogenetic Tree Construction From The Problem-Solving Research Tradition, Terrance E. Brisbin

Dissertations

Both the content and strategic knowledge used in phylogenetic tree construction are described to account for novice performance. A review of the literature is used to place this research with respect to studies in: problem solving studies (both expert, and novice), the history and practice of evolutionary systematics, and the teaching of evolution. The computer-based problem-solving environment is discussed along with model problems used for the research.

Each of the five research problems consists of an encoded matrix containing phylogenetic data organized by taxa and characters. Twelve participants (high school students) volunteered to solve the research problems, on their own …

Do Timing And Pattern Of Myogenesis Correlate With Life History Mode In Anurans?, Matthew T. Smetanick, Rafael O. De Sá, Gary P. Radice

Biology Faculty Publications

The timing and pattern of myogensis varies among anurans that have been studied and the different patterns may provide useful phylogenetic information. Specific myogenic markers have been described (Muntz, 1975; Kielbowna, 1981; Boudjelida & Muntz, 1987; Radice et al., l989) and they can provide information on evolutionary changes for closely related lineages within a clade. For example, we previously compared first appearance of a muscle-specific protein, first twitch of axial muscle, onset of multinucleation within axial myotome, and first heartbeat in two pipid genera (Smetanick, et al., 1999). We found that although the timing of myogensis differed, the sequence of …

Reflections On Scientific And Religious Metaphor, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

The importance of scientific conflicts for theology and philosophy is difficult to judge. In many disputes of significance, prominent scientists can be found on both sides. Profound philosophical and religious implications are sometimes said to be implied by the new theory as well. This article examines the dispute over natural selection between Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould as a contemporary instance of such a conflict. While both claim that profound philosophical conclusions flow from their own alternative account of evolution, I suggest that the implication is not as great as is claimed and that the alleged implications have as …

Comparative Taphonomy And Paleoecology Of A Glaciomarine Fauna, Carboniferous (Westphalian- Namurian) La Capilla Fm., Argentina, Rex A. Hanger, Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe

Virginia Journal of Science

The Carboniferous La Capilla Fm. of the Calingasta-Uspallata basin of western Argentina contains a low diversity fauna inhabiting a continental shelf under glacial ice fronts advancing from the east. Distal glaciomarine sediments on these ice-influenced shelves of Gondwana are most commonly interpreted as being deposited under quiet, low-energy conditions. Ta­phonomic and paleoecologic analysis of a sample of the fauna reveals the following: low species richness, yet comparable equitability to coeval, tropi­cal faunas; low articulation ratios and high pedicle valve dominance for brachiopods; diverse corrasion modes, about half relatively high categories; one hundred percent fracturing of brachiopod shells, with carinate fracture …

Systematics Of The Eucestoda: Advances Toward A New Phylogenetic Paradigm And Observations On The Early Diversification Of Tapeworms And Vertebrates, Eric P. Hoberg, Scott Lyell Gardner, Ronald A. Campbell

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary relationships of the Eucestoda have received intense but sporadic attention over the past century. Since 1996, the landscape has dramatically changed with respect to our knowledge of the phylogenetic relationships among the tapeworms. The 2nd International Workshop for Tapeworm Systematics (IWTS) held in Lincoln, Nebraska in October of that year provided the catalyst for development of novel hypotheses for inter-and intra-ordinal phylogeny. The working-group structure of the 2nd IWTS and results of phylogenetic studies are briefly introduced in the present manuscript. Higher-level phylogenies derived from parsimony analysis of independent data bases representing comparative morphology or molecular sequences were largely …

The Holes In Gould's Semipermeable Membrane Between Science And Religion, Ursula Goodenough

Biology Faculty Research

Book review: Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life. Stephen Jay Gould. 241 pp. Ballantine Publishing Group, 1999.

Avian Prey-Dropping Behavior. I. The Effects Of Prey Characteristics And Prey Loss, Paul V. Switzer, Daniel A. Cristol

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Avian Prey-Dropping Behavior. I. The Effects Of Prey Characteristics And Prey Loss, Paul Switzer, Daniel Cristol

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Evolutionary Relationships Among The Protostrongylidae (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) As Inferred From Morphological Characters, With Consideration Of Parasite-Host Coevolution, Ramon A. Carreno, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The phylogeny of nematodes in the family Protostrongylidae (Nematoda: Metastrongyloidea) was reconstructed by cladistic analysis of 28 binary and multistate characters derived from comparative morphology. Analyses were hierarchical, and examined (1) relationships among genera, including 13 ingroup taxa and Metastrongylidae as an outgroup (single tree, 78 steps, consistency index [CI]=0.705); and (2) relationships among genera and species groups including 21 ingroup taxa and Metastrongylus apri as an outgroup (single tree, 76 steps, CI=0.582). In the species-level tree, Protostrongylidae was divided into 2 major clades, one containing the subfamilies Muelleriinae (including the recently described Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis) Elaphostrongylinae, and the Varestrongylinae …

Amphicyonidae, Robert Hunt

University of Nebraska State Museum: Mammalogy Papers

The Amphicyonidae occur in North America from late Eocene (~40 Ma) to early late Miocene (~9 Ma), a span of 31 million years. In the North American land mammal biochronology, this diverse family extends from the Duchesnean to the end of the Clarendonian and is especially well represented in the Miocene (~5-24 Ma). In the Old World, amphicyonids survive no longer than in North America: The last European records are Vallesian (Dinotheriensande, Mainz Basin, Germany, Kuss, 1965, Tobien, 1980; Vallés-Penédes Basin, Spain, Crusafont-Pairó and Kurten, 1976), and the last representative may occur at about 9 Ma at Kohfidisch, Austria (latest …

The Use Of Isoelectric Focusing To Assess The Genetic Diversity Of The Cyprinid Fishes: Rhinichthys Cataractae And Rhinichthys Atratulus In West Virginia, Fauzia Alam Miah

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In this study, isoelectric focusing is used to separate proteins of Rhinichthys cataractae and R. atratulus and conventional staining is used to identify alleles of six genes. The objective of this work is to determine whether these methods can effectively assay isozymes that may be used to establish the relationship between anthropogenic stress and genetic diversity. Alleles for LDH-A, LDH-B, EST-A, EST-B, EST-C, and EST-D loci were identified for two species of fish, R. atratulus and R. cataractae. Both fish species are known to be sensitive to anthropogenic stress and known to be widely distributed in stressed environments. Alleles …

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 …

Faunal Diversity Among Avian Parasite Assemblages: The Interaction Of History, Ecology, And Biogeography In Marine Systems, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Systematics and parasite biodiversity provide power and predictability in broad studies of history, ecology and biogeography in marine systems. Parasitic helminths are elegant markers of contemporary and historical ecological relationships, geographic distribution and host-phylogeny. Complex life cycles of helminths are strongly correlated with intricate food-webs. Dependence on a series of intermediate, paratenic, and definitive hosts indicates that each parasite species represents an array of organisms within a community and tracks broadly and predictably across many trophic levels. Host and geographic ranges of parasites are historically constrained by genealogical and ecological associations, and these determinents interact resulting in characteristic parasite community …

Cytogenetic And Isozyme Analysis Of Two Species Of North American Cyprinid Fishes : Rhinichthys Cataractae And Nocomis Micropogon From The Cheat River Drainages Of West Virginia, Syam B. Stoll

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Nocomos micropoqon and Rhinichthys cataractae are species of cyprinid fishes that may hybridize to produce a nominally described species Rhynichthys bowersi. Rhynichthys bowersi is a rare fish endemic to a few watersheds mostly in West Virginia, especially the Cheat River drainage. The resolution of its proper taxonomic status is presently a concern to state and federal regulatory agencies. A number of investigators have determined relatedness of cyprinid fishes by examining chromosomal structure. Telomeres and nucleolar organizer regions are chromosome structures used in inter and intraspecific phylogeny. In this study, fibroblasts from N. micropoqon and R. cataractae were first …

Phylogenetic Reanalysis Of Strauch's Osteological Data Set For The Charadriiformes, Philip C. Chu

Biology Faculty Publications

Strauch's (1978) compatibility analysis of relationships among the shorebirds (Charadriiformes) was the first study to examine the full range of charadriiform taxa in a reproducible way. Subsequently Mickevich and Parenti (1980) leveled serious charges against Strauch's characters, method of phylogenetic inference, and results. To account for these charges, Strauch's characters were re-examined and recoded, and parsimony analyses were performed on the revised matrix. A parsimony analysis on 74 taxa from the revised matrix yielded 855 shortest trees, each length = 286 and consistency index = 0.385. In each shortest tree there were two major lineages, a lineage of sandpiper-like birds …

Historical Biogeography And Modes Of Speciation Across High-Latitude Seas Of The Holarctic: Concepts For Host-Parasite Coevolution Among The Phocini (Phocidae) And Tetrabothriidae (Eucestoda), Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Species of Anophryocephalus are host-specific parasites of pinnipeds in the Holarctic. Phylogenetic analysis of 7 species postulates A. anophrys as the basal taxon and A. inuitorum as basal to A. skrjabini; A. arcticensis is basal to A. nunivakensis and A. eumetopii + A. ochotensis (single tree; consistency index = 74.4%; homoplasy slope ratio = 36.45%). Evaluation of host and geographic distributions postulates ringed seals of the Atlantic-Arctic as ancestral hosts, and the Arctic basin as a paraphyletic area with respect to the North Pacific. Cospeciation within this assemblage was dependent on intense isolation of small effective populations of definitive hosts …

Phylogenetic Systematic Analysis Of The Trichostrongylidae (Nematoda), With An Initial Assessment Of Coevolution And Biogeography, Eric P. Hoberg, J. Ralph Lichtenfels

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Phylogenetic analysis of the subfamilies of the Trichostrongylidae based on 22 morphological transformation series produced a single cladogram with a consistency index (CI) = 74.2%. Monophyly for the family was supported by the structure of the female tail and copulatory bursa. Two major clades are recognized: the Cooperiinae clade with the basal Cooperiinae and Libyostrongylinae + Trichostrongylinae, and the Graphidiinae clade with the basal Graphidiinae and Ostertagiinae + Haemonchinae. Dendrograms presented by Durette- Desset (1985) (CI = 56.1%) and Lichtenfels (1987), based on the key to the Trichostrongylidae by Gibbons and Khalil (1982) (CI = 59.0%), were found to be …

Xenopus Laevis As A Model Organism, David C. Cannatella, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Model organisms are often assumed to be representative of some more inclusive taxon of which the species is a part. This assumption leads to mistaken generalizations about the evolutionary and comparative significance of the data gathered. This paper reviews com? parative and evolutionary studies of Xenopus laevis and its relatives. Phylogenetic analysis of data from DNA sequences and morphology indicate that Xenopus is monophyletic and that Silurana is its sister group. The most basal lineages of Pipidae diverged prior to the breakup of Gondwana. The bizarre morphology of Xenopus is in part due to changes in the mode of meta? …

The Relationship Between Lifespan And Reproduction In The Giant Waterbug (Belostoma Flumineum), Wendy Nixdorf

Masters Theses

The evolutionary significance of senescence and death is poorly understood. Life history theory suggests that the allocation of energy to growth or reproduction is necessarily associated with a decrease in energy available for maintenance of the soma. This study attempted to determine if an investment in reproduction would decrease longevity in the giant waterbug (Belostoma flumineum). Male and female waterbugs were collected from the field as last instar stage nymphs and maintained under controlled laboratory conditions. Individuals were randomly assigned to mating effort treatments, (virgins or breeders with breeding efforts ranging from 1 to >5 times). Following breeding, …

Book Review Of Parascript: Parasites And The Language Of Evolution By D. R. Brooks And D. A. Mclennan, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1993., Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Review of Parascript: Parasites and the Language of Evolution by Daniel R. Brooks and Deborah A. McLennan, with bibliographical references.

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

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Multivariate Test Of Evolutionary Stasis In Homo Sapiens, Jon Geoffrey Kleckner

Dissertations and Theses

In the past, efforts to prove or disprove stasis in hominids have relied upon univariate tests such as Students's t-test. Severe methodological and interpretive problems arise from the misapplication of univariate statistics to questions concerning variation in shape through time. These are questions best addressed using the multivariate approach of morphometrics. Eighteen cranial dimensions drawn from 33 mid and late Pleistocene Homo sapiens were examined using principal component analysis (PCA). PCA divided the sample into two distinct morphologies. Archaic Homo sapiens of the mid Pleistocene clustered with Wurm I neanderthals and apart from post Gottweig early anatomically modern Homo sapiens. …

Book Review Of Evolution As Religion, Carl J. Bajema

Other Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.