Individual Development and Evolution: The Genesis of Novel Behavior - Couverture rigide

Gottlieb, Gilbert

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0195068939 ISBN 13 : 9780195068931

Editeur : Oxford University Press Inc, 1991

Synopsis

In Darwin's time, individual development was believed to recapitulate the history of the species. This meant that each evolutionary novelty was added on at the end of individual development in the preceding species. If this were so, development would be like a motion picture revealing the sequence of a species' evolutionary history. In the 1920s, this view shifted to one stressing that early, not late, somatic changes in individual development were responsible for evolution, and many believed these changes were caused by genetic mutations and recombinations. With these views as background, this study presents a behavioural theory of evolutionary change that is not dependent on genetic mutation or genetic recombination in its initial stages. Using evidence of the large, untapped, already existing genetic-developmental potential in all species, the author proposes that developmentally wrought changes in behaviour can lead to the evolution of somatic novelties prior to genetic change. Some of these documented behavioural changes include heightened exploratory tendencies, increased resistance to stress and enhanced problem-solving skills.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

This work is intended to portray the interrelationship of heredity, individual development, and the evolution of species in a way that can be understood by nonspecialists. In striving to offer a straightforward historical exposition of the complex topic of nature and nurture, the author tells the story through a central cast of characters beginning with Lamarck in 1809 and ending with a synthesis of his own that depicts how extragenetic behavioral changes in individual development could be the first stages in the pathway leading to evolutionary change. On the way to that goal, he describes relevant conceptual aspects of genetics, embryological development, and evolutionary biology in a nontechnical and accurate way for students and colleagues in the behavioral and social sciences. The book presents a highly selected review as a prelude to the description of a developmental theory of the phenotype in which behavioral change leads eventually to evolutionary change.

This book grew out of an invited interdisciplinary course of lectures for advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Presenting the various ways about thinking about heredity, individual development, and evolution, the author had three goals in mind:
*to establish the relevance of individual development to the evolution of species;
*to describe the most appropriate way to think about or conceptualize heredity in relation to individual development;
*to show that this somewhat unorthodox manner of conceptualizing heredity and individual development gives rise to a new way to think about the behavioral pathway leading to evolution.
In conclusion, the present work will provide a contribution toward the possible dissolution of the nature-nurture dichotomy, as well as a contribution to evolutionary theory.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press Inc
• Date d'édition: 1991
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0195068939
• ISBN 13: 9780195068931
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 243
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Ufficio Anagrafiche Messaggerie; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; 20090; Italie