History and philosophy of panbiogeography

[John Grehan]

For all of you history and philosophy of evolution buffs out there, the following article may be of interest:

 

Heads,M.J. (2005) The history and philosophy of panbiogeography. Regionalización Biogeográfica en Iberoamérica y Tópicos Afines (ed. by J.Llorente and J.J.Morrone), pp. 67-123. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.

 

It can be accessed at: http://www.sciencebuff.org/heads_publications.php

 

Of course the history and philosophy of panbiogeography has been conveniently overlooked by Darwinian in establishing the hegemony of Darwinian evolution in the popular mind, but at least here is an opportunity to bypass the sieve. For general interest a summary of the article content is excerpted from Heads (2005) as follows:

 

I examine the history of panbiogeographic thought from its origins in the pre-Socratic philosopher of ancient Greece through to modern times. Parts of the same ground have been well covered by Llorente et al. (2000, 2001). Main themes include the following:

1. Teleological thinking and writing have no place in biology and have held up progress.

2. Earth and life evolve together.

3. The Scientific Revolution started with sixteenth century biology, not seventeenth century astronomy.

4. Cesalpino was the first true systematist and a major figure in the Scientific Revolution

5. The Scientific Revolution and panbiogeography are branches of the North Italian Renaissance

6. Evolution is not gradual or clock-like

7. Orthogenetic development (phylogenetic constraint by molecular drive) is of primary importance in evolution.

8. Natural selection is of secondary importance, pruning but not creating evolutionary trends.

9. The vicariance/dispersal debate is less about ecology and means of dispersal than about modes of speciation: whether species evolve at a point (Darwin's 'chance dispersal', Mayr's 'founder dispersal' and Hennig's 'speciation by colonization') or over a region (Mayr's dichopatric speciation, Croizat's vicariance).

10. Evolution by vicariance involves neither a center of origin nor migration over a barrier

11. The basic concepts of Mayr, Hennig and modern phylogeographers (teleology, point center of origin, undifferentiated ancestor, progression rule) are derived from Aristotelian logocentrism and German idealism."

 

John Grehan

 

 

Dr. John R. Grehan

Director of Science and Collections

Buffalo Museum of Science1020 Humboldt Parkway

Buffalo, NY 14211-1193

email: jgrehan at sciencebuff.org

Phone: (716) 896-5200 ext 372

 

Panbiogeography

http://www.sciencebuff.org/biogeography_and_evolutionary_biology.php

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http://www.sciencebuff.org/systematics_and_evolution_of_hepialdiae.php

Human evolution and the great apes

http://www.sciencebuff.org/human_origin_and_the_great_apes.php