CISEPS - Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology and Social Sciences

Some comments of the book "Edge of Evolution: Search for the Limits of Darwinism" by Michael J. Behe, the ultimate manifesto of the Intelligent Design movement. When religious faith is called, two choices are available: complete adhesion, or declaration of illegitimacy of the call itself.

The notion of “fitness landscapes” was presented by Sewall Wright in 1932. Its influence in evolutionary biology was extensive in several directions up to the present day. One direction consists in studies that built “fitness landscapes” although, according to my analysis, they employed only a part of Wright’s ideas - i.e. the one concerning “surfaces of selective value” (cf. Wright 1988) - focusing on one or few genetic or phenotypic traits of the studied systems. The model Wright fostered in 1932 was about the entire genotypic space of a Mendelian population, characterized by huge dimensionality. The lack of formal tools and computational power have prevented its actual construction, but understanding the original idea and how it differs from the realized models seems useful, all the most after the recent proposal by Sergey Gavrilets (e.g. Gavrilets 1997; 2004) of revising the overall structure of the genotype space. Understanding crucial differences is necessary here as well: for example, the newly proposed diagrams - namely, nearly flat, holey surfaces - do not represent the whole genotypic space, but the existence and properties of “nearly neutral networks” within it. The latter are fundamental for building particular speciation models called “spontaneous clusterization” (Gavrilets 2010). I will present, on the one hand, Wright’s primal proposal and the revision advanced by Gavrilets, on the other hand, the fruitful “surface of selective value” method, that consists in (1) representing genetic or phenotypic variants as points that are distributed on a bi-dimensional surface, so that the distance between points be proportional to the “reachability” between variants; (2) extruding such a surface along a third, orthogonal dimension that represents the considered variants’ fitness. The method aids the study of the role of fitness and other factors in evolutionary dynamics.

Spatial ecology is not a science studying ecosystems that are scattered throughout the Universe… it is the introduction of spatiality in ecological models. An unexpectedly recent idea!

References:

- Solé, R., B. Goodwin, 2000, Signs of life. How complexity pervades biology, Basic Books, New York.
- Gavrilets S., A. Vose, M. Barluenga, W. Salzburger & A. Meyer (2007), Case studies and mathematical models of ecological speciation: Cichlids in a crater lake. Molecular Ecology 16, pp. 2893-2909.
- Barluenga, M., K.N. Stölting, W. Salzburger, M. Muschick, & A. Meyer (2006), Sympatric speciation in Nicaraguan crater lake cichlid fish. Nature 439, pp. 719-723.
- Schliewen, U.K., T.D. Kocher, K.R. McKaye, O. Seehausen & D. Tautz (2006), Evidence for sympatric speciation?. Nature 439, pp. E12-E13.
- Barluenga, M., K.N. Stölting, W. Salzburger, M. Muschick, & A. Meyer (2006), Reply. Nature 439, p. E13.
- La home page di Sergey Gavrilets http://www.tiem.utk.edu/~gavrila offre una panoramica dei suoi studi sulla modellizzazione matematica dell’evoluzione, sulla quale segnala l’interessante libro S. Gavrilets (2004), Fitness Landscapes and the Origin of Species, Princeton University Press, Monographs in Population Biology vol 41. pp.476

A study on sibling species of African Cichlid fishes probes "reproductive barriers": since there is no genetic incompatibility, other factors must play a role.

Reviewed article:

Van der Sluijs, I, T.J.M. van Dooren, O. Seehausen, J.J.M. van Alphen (2008), “A test of fitness consequences of hybridization in sibling species of Lake Victoria cichlid fish”, Journal of evolutionary biology 21 (2), pp. 480–491. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01495.x

More references:
Turnera, George F. (2007), “Adaptive radiation of cichlid fish”, Current Biology, 17 (19), pp. R827-R831.
Seehausen, Ole (2006), “African cichlid fish: a model system in adaptive radiation research”, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273 (1597), pp.1987-1998.

In this article I present Charles Darwin not immediatly through his theory, rather, through five "puzzles" or "enygmas" he stumbled upon during his voyage. He focused these puzzles, lending his voice to conceptual contradictions that were engrained in the Victorian worldview and in the long tradition of Western thought. The puzzles are:
1) the uncertain boundaries of species
2) biogeographical correlations
3) the relationship between fossils and living organisms
4) the imperfection of adaptation
5) vestigial organs
Darwin's theory is, most of all, the solution of all these enygmas at once, by the idea of common descent pictured in the "coral of life".

References:
Charles Darwin (1859), On The Origin of Species, 1st ed, John Murray, London; trad. it. di Giuliano Pancaldi, L’Origine delle specie, Rizzoli, Milano, 2009.
Charles Darwin (1839). Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Journal and remarks. 1832-1836. London: Henry Colburn; trad. it. Viaggio di un naturalista intorno al mondo, Einaudi, Torino, 2004.
Charles Darwin (1877), The various contrivances by which orchids are fertilised by insects. London: John Murray. 2d ed.
Richard A. Lockshin (2007), The Joy of Science: An Examination of How Scientists Ask and Answer Questions Using the Story of Evolution as a Paradigm, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.
William Paley (1808), Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, 12th edition London: Printed for J. Faulder.
Queste opere e molte altre sono disponibili in lingua originale sul sito The complete work of Charles Darwin online (http://darwin-online.org.uk), a cura di John van Whye.

The following essay contains a suggestive and enlightning scientific autobiography of Susan Oyama, psychologist who speaks of biology from an epistemological point of view. From this origina intellectual story we can alreary guess Oyama's challenge to classical disciplinary boundaries, like the one between biology and psychology: two fields sharing, in turn, deeply rooted epistemological habits...

«We all reject naïve group selection – one should not simply assume that traits evolve because they are good of the group. But it’s a legitimate hypothesis when you state how to test and possibly support it. So we think it’s an important addition in the mix of ideas that evolutionary biology uses in understanding nature».

References

Elliott Sober & David Sloan Wilson (1998), Unto others: The evolution and psychology of unselfish behavior, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Michael Ruse (2000), The Evolution Wars: A Guide to the Controversies, Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO. Paperback, Rutgers University Press, 2001.
Michael Ruse (2000). Review of Sober and Wilson, Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior. Ethics 110 (2):443-445.
On Hamilton:
Emanuele Coco (2008), Egoisti, malvagi, generosi. Storia naturale dell'altruismo, Bruno Mondadori.
On species selection:
Niles Eldredge (1985), Unfinished Synthesis, Oxford University Press, New York.
Stephen Jay Gould, Niles Eldredge (1988), "Species selection: its range and power", Nature 334, 19.
Elisabeth A. Lloyd, Stephen Jay Gould (1993), Evolution "Species selection on variability", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 90, pp. 595-599.
Stephen Jay Gould (2002), trad. it. La struttura della teoria dell'evoluzione, Codice Edizioni, Torino, 2003.
Samir Okasha (2006), Evolution and the Levels of Selection, Oxford University Press.
Elliott Sober (2008), Evidence and Evolution. The Logic Behind the Science, Cambridge University Press.
Massimo Pigliucci (2007), “Do we need an extended evolutionary synthesis?”, Evolution 61: 2743-2749, 2007.

...But the tree of languages bears two more messages. The first, universal kinship, reminds that all languages are siblings, close or far relatives, like the peoples who speak them: subgroups with uncertain boundaries in a single, global species. The second, the value of history: every language - like every biological species - is the unique outcome of an improbable series of events. The "instructions" contained in DNA - a common metaphor - aren't but a small, insufficient, inexhaustive part of a species, just like documents and instructions will never suffice for a language to get back to life. Once a language disappears, once a species gets extinct, something unique that enriched our planet is lost forever.

Opsins - fundamental proteins in the eye - can change during the organism's development. It happens by modulation of gene expression, not by gene modification. Developmental modulation mechanisms can have important implications for speciation, since visual sensitivity influences sexual preferences as well as survival capacities. An interesting study on African cichlid fishes.

References:
- Carleton, KL, TC Spady , JT Streelman, MR Kidd, WN Mcfarland, ER Loew (2008), "Visual sensitivities tuned by heterochronic shifts in opsin gene expression", BMC Biology 6, in publication.
- Terai, Y; Seehausen, O; Sasaki, T, et al. (2006), “Divergent selection on opsins drives incipient speciation in Lake Victoria cichlids”, PLOS Biology 4, pp. 2244-225.

We reconstruct the terminology proposed by Gould & Vrba (1982), and the related structural approach to evolution. We present two recent exemplar studies in human evolution which evaluate an exaptation hypothesis. We then point out some operational implications for evolutionary research.

When we find a hominid fossil, we cannot be sure that it is an ancestor of our species. These words by one of the major paleontologists demonstrate how this discipline has grown up in the last decades, becoming more and more aware of its own methods and limits, but also of its own scientific power

Based on a lecture by Bernard Wood, professor of "Human Origins" at the Department of Anthropology, University of Washington

Other references:
- McBrearty, S, Jablonski, NG (2005), "First fossil chimpanzee", Nature 437, pp. 105-108.
- Gee, H. (2001), Deep time, Fourth Estate; trad. it. Tempo profondo, Codice Edizioni, 2006.

«I like to think that philosophy can help to clarify issues, often issues which are troubling within a particulardiscipline, and bring some light on these matters. Now, in a way, that sounds very arrogant, but it’s not really...»

A fascinating interview to philosopher of biology Michael Ruse. Some of his recent books concerning the topics of the interview:

But Is It Science?: The Philosophical Question in the Creation/Evolution Controversy, ed. by Robert T. Pennock & Michael Ruse, Prometheus Books, 2008.
Intelligent Design: William A. Dembski & Michael Ruse in Dialogue, Fortress Press, 2007.
Debating Design: From Darwin to DNA, ed. by William A. Dembski & Michael Ruse, Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Evolution: The First Four Billion Years, ed. by Michael Ruse & Joseph Travis, Belknap Press, 2009.
The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology, ed. by Michael Ruse, Oxford University Press, 2008.
Taking Darwin Seriously: A Naturalistic Approach to Philosophy, by Michael Ruse, Prometheus Books, 1998.

Richard Lockshin’s endeavor to present scientific explanations as problem solving in their historical context is very interesting and realized in The Joy of Science. The ELF (Evidence, Logic, Falsification) structure—frequently recalled through the chapters—appears to be didactically effective. Above all, certainly all of us can share the goal of the book: “demystifying the world of science” (p. 14), making it understandable and accessible to everybody, because understanding is the basis of an informed and conscientious citizenry and because it can give you pleasure and joy.

REVIEW OF: The Joy of Science: An Examination of How Scientists Ask and Answer Questions Using the Story of Evolution as a Paradigm, by Richard A. Lockshin. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2007. Pp. xi + 435. H/b $ 99.00.

The reflection on human cultures delivers more and more a critical and complex vision that makes it difficult to imagine ourselves counting, describe or analytically decompose cultures. Bypassing questions like "what is a culture", "which and how many cultures are there", and "how important is each culture", anthropology and ethnography give scientific form to the comparative impetus that puts diversities - the many colors of a caleidoscope - in relation and dialogue. This is an open enterprise that drops any aim of completeness and systematicity, in favor of critical reflection on what does it mean to be human and to inhabit the Earth together. By the way, diversity can be studied and understood from different points of view, e.g. borrowing methods and concepts from evolutionary biology in order to reconstruct the world tree of common descent of cultures, with migrations and diasporas, where similarities (inherited or convergent) and differences among peoples got channeled. Meanwhile, however, in face of the insufficiency of analysis, the disappearance of cultural varieties is more and more evident. What's worst, this happens in parallel to growing awareness of their importance for the survival of our species. Locating, measuring, and contrasting the loss of cultural diversity is a challenge which, for example, the UN have tried to address through the definition of "intangible cultural heritage". Biocultural diversity, a young and promising field, promotes an integrated approach to the conservation of diversity, comprising cultural and biological aspects.

Why did Paranthropus go extinct, and pre-modern Homo survive? Fifty years ago, an hypothesis based on the idea that "too specialized groups go extinct" was widely accepted, but it turned out hasty when, in 2004, Paranthropus didn't stand the criteria for being considered "ecologically specialized".

Based on a lecture by Bernard Wood, professor of "Human Origins" at the Department of Anthropology, University of Washington

Other reference:
Wood, B., D. Strait (2004) “Patterns of resource use in early Homo and Paranthropus”, Journal of Human Evolution 46(2), pp. 119-162.

Although this is a long review, I do not cover but perhaps two thirds of the contents of The Native Mind and the Cultural Construction of Nature, and very briefly indeed. As we can read in the press release, this book draws on two decades of research: it contains data, analyses, research protocols and theoretical background from this huge work. Folkbiology is the interdisciplinary perspective on how do people ordinarily understand the biological world. In The Native Mind and the Cultural Construction of Nature we appreciate how far the implications of this field can go. In this overview I choose a geographical approach: we fly from Guatemala, to Wisconsin, then to Middle East. We then land in university classes and end up in school classrooms. This tour gives me the really minimum base for a tentative critical summary of the book. In the tour I include not only findings, but also research methods that I suppose can be stimulating for EE&O readers.

KEY WORDS: folkbiology; folktaxonomy; folkecology; biology education; environment; anthropology; cognitive psychology.

REVIEW OF: The Native Mind and the Cultural Construction of Nature, by Scott Atran and Douglas Medin. Cambridge, Massachussets: The MIT Press, 2008. Pp. viii + 333. H/b $ 40.00.