Mayr vs Croizat

[John R. Grehan]

I have completed a transcription of the 1984 article by Croizat commenting on
the dichotomy in Mayr's thinking regarding panbiogeography. This is now
posted at
http://www.ento.psu.edu/home/Frost/Research/Biogeography/Panbiogeography/Tuatara_articles/Tuatara_articles.htm
The paper, originally, published in Tuatara, comments on how Mayr treats
panbiogeography in two distinct styles in two different publications in
1982. In
one paper Mayr maintains his 30 year taboo against mentioning Croizat or his
work directly, in the other Mayr breaks with the taboo and yet focuses on
panbiogeography as if it were somehow a derivative of vicariance biogeography.
Croizat addresses the many misconceptions and misrepresentations made
by Mayr in the two articles. Please note that any citation of this article
should be
made from the original to avoid any mistakes in the transcription.

The way Mayr, Simpson, and other prominent biogeographers responded
to Croizat's work certainly set a tone for biogeographic debate that continues
into the present. Whether for or against either party, the paper may
be of historical interest in understanding the 'growth' of biological thought.

As a concluding comment it will be evident that I do consider the
issues of censorship and suppression in science to be real and serious.
Such problems are as much a part of science as the discovery and advance
of knowledge so I do not pretend that they will go away, or that they are
confined to the reception of panbiogeography. However, since I am
most involved with panbiogeography that is where my focus lies. Henderson
(Science, 229, p. 8, 1985) observed how Lawrence Abele's found the absence
of citation of Croizat in "Biogeography and Ecology of the Seychelles"to be
"pleasant" and this absence contributed to the publication being "worthwhile".
In responding to Henderson's critique Abele justified his attitude as having
a "sense of humor".


John Grehan
Frost Entomological Museum
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Entomology
501 ASI Building
University Park, PA 16802. USA.

Phone: (814) 863-2865
Fax: (814) 865-3048

Frost Museum
http://www.ento.psu.edu/home/Frost/index.html