Michael T. Ghiselin

California Academy of Sciences · Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology

Since antiquity, the sense of smell (olfaction) is considered as a distance sense, just like sight and hearing. Conversely, the sense of taste (gustation) is thought to operate by direct contact, similarly to touch. With the progress of natural sciences, information at molecular, anatomical, and neurobiological levels has also contributed to the ta...

Fish have proven to be valuable models in the study of the endocrine control of appetite in response to peripheral signals of energetic and nutritional status. In parallel, a growing body of literature points to the importance of sensory experiences as factors affecting food choice in fish, with a special focus on visual and chemical signals allowi...

B. F. Skinner viewed behaviorism not as the science of behavior, but a philosophy of that science. Such philosophizing is a legitimate part of a scientist’s investigative behavior. He sought to eliminate confusion and error by getting rid of objectionable posits such as homunculi, vital forces, intentionalities, purposes and essences, sticking to o...

Covering: up to 2017 The review summarizes results up to 2017 on chemosensory cues occurring in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The chemicals are grouped by their physicochemical properties to compare their potential mobility in the different media. In contrast to what is widely asserted in the literature, the report emphasizes that livi...

Significance This report gives empirical evidence indicating that chemoreception of volatile/odorant lipophilic compounds, almost insoluble in water, can occur in aquatic environments, by means of “tactile” forms of olfaction. This thesis has been proved by exploring the defensive role of terpenes isolated from benthic invertebrates. The isolated m...

Natural, artificial, and sexual selection played different roles in Darwin’s theoretical system and his arguments. Natural selection explained adaptation without recourse to teleology. Artificial selection provided a plausibility argument for selection in general. Sexual selection provided a critical test of selection and showed that it may lead to...

Homology is a relation of correspondence between parts of parts of larger wholes. It is used when tracking objects of interest through space and time and in the context of explanatory historical narratives. Homologues can be traced through a genealogical nexus back to a common ancestral precursor. Homology being a transitive relation, homologues re...

Among natural products there are molecules well known to influence the abundance and distribution of marine organisms and to play important roles in their interactions with one another. Recently, chemical ecologists have also started to consider how research on natural products might be useful in understanding marine biological invasions, assessing...

The notion that Charles Darwin embraced the German Romantic tradition seems plausible, given the early influence of Alexander von Humboldt. But this view fails to do justice to other scientific traditions. Darwin was a protégé of the Englishman John Stevens Henslow and was a follower of the Scott Charles Lyell. He had important debts to French scie...

The usual definition of smell and taste as distance and contact forms of chemoreception, respectively, has resulted in the belief that, during the shift from aquatic to terrestrial life, odorant receptors (ORs) were selected mainly to recognize airborne hydrophobic ligands, instead of the hydrophilic molecules involved in marine remote-sensing. Thi...

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) discovered the principle of natural selection and laid the foundations for modern evolutionary biology. The term ‘Darwinian’ is applied to his theory, and others like it, in which natural selection is considered the main, although not the only, mechanism. Terms such as ‘Lamarckian’ suggest alternatives in which other mech...

Storage of secondary metabolites with a putative defensive role occurs in the so-called mantle dermal formations (MDFs) that are located in the more exposed parts of the body of most and very likely all members of an entire family of marine mollusks, the chromodorid nudibranchs (Gastropoda: Opisthobranchia). Given that these structures usually lack...

Food palatability assay. Food preparation (a), food presentation to the shrimps in series of individual replicates (b, c), food acceptance (d), and food rejection (e). (TIF)

Ceratosoma trilobatum. The photograph shows an individual of C. trilobatum in a black and white partial color effect to highlight the anatomical parts mentioned in the text. (TIF)

Shape preference assay. Models of “unprotected nudibranchs”, sculptured in squid muscle (A) to reproduce the body shape of a Ceratosoma nudibranch with its dorsal horn (B), and a Hypselodoris- or Risbecia-like nudibranch with a little mantle skirt (C), were placed in a seawater aquarium along with a mantle-lacking model (D), in the presence of 12 s...

1H NMR spectra of R. tryoni. 1H NMR spectra (400 MHz) of crude extracts from one individual of R. tryoni in CDCl3 containing dimethylfumarate (DMF) as internal standard. Colored bars show the natural volumetric concentration (NVC, mg/ml anatomical section) of compound 7 in the different body parts of the nudibranch. (TIF)

1H NMR spectra of G. atromarginata. 1H NMR spectra (400 MHz) of crude extracts from one individual of G. atromarginata in CDCl3 containing dimethylfumarate (DMF) as internal standard. Colored bars show the natural volumetric concentration (NVC, mg/ml anatomical section) of compounds 1, 2, and 3 in the different body parts of the nudibranch. (TIF)

1H NMR spectra of Hypselodoris sp. 1H NMR spectra (400 MHz) of crude extracts from one individual of Hypselodoris sp. in CDCl3 containing dimethylfumarate (DMF) as internal standard. Colored bars show the natural volumetric concentration (NVC, mg/ml anatomical section) of compound 6 in the different body parts of the nudibranch. (TIF)

1H NMR spectra of H. infucata. 1H NMR spectra (400 MHz) of crude extracts from one individual of H. infucata in CDCl3 containing dimethylfumarate (DMF) as internal standard. Colored bars show the natural volumetric concentration (NVC, mg/ml anatomical section) of compound 7 in the different body parts of the nudibranch. (TIF)

Relative hardness of the MDFs. MDFs of (a,b,c) G. atromarginata, (d) H. infucata, (e) C. gracillimum, and (f) R. tryoni, were broken by a dissection probe (indicated by yellow arrow in b) allowing the release of lipophilic material (indicated by black arrows). Photomicrographs were taken on unmounted slides, with a drop of seawater placed over each...

1H NMR spectra of C. sinensis. 1H NMR spectra (400 MHz) of crude extracts from one individual of C. sinensis in CDCl3 containing dimethylfumarate (DMF) as internal standard. Colored bars show the natural volumetric concentration (NVC, mg/ml anatomical section) of compounds 4 and 5 in the different body parts of the nudibranch. (TIF)

The organism, like the molecule, the cell, and the species, is one of the fundamental levels in our hierarchical classification of life and its components. The units ranked at these levels, being concrete, particular things, are individuals in the broadest philosophical sense. But in a much narrower and more familiar sense, individual means an indi...

The striking color patterns of chromodorid (and other) nudibranchs appear to be indicative of aposematism. In Müllerian mimicry, all the mimic species have a defense mechanism. It has been proposed that a group of blue, white, and yellow Mediterranean and northeastern Atlantic species of the genus Hypselodoris form a Müllerian mimetic circle. One o...

The striking color patterns of chromodorid (and other) nudibranchs appear to be indicative of aposematism. In Müllerian mimicry, all the mimic species have a defense mechanism. It has been proposed that a group of blue, white, and yellow Mediterranean and northeastern Atlantic species of the genus Hypselodoris form a Müllerian mimetic circle. One o...

The Festschrift „For a Philosophy of Biology“ honors the Biophilosopher and Biohistorian Rolf Löther (*14 February 1933). Five chapters discuss the nature of Biological Species, in appreciation of one of Löther’s most important contributions to a philosophy of biology. History of science papers on interdisciplinary research in the GDR, the work of...

Yair Neuman takes a semiotic view of biological processes and argues that meaning, which is inevitably contextual, emerges in evolution and development (especially of the immune system) by something that is rather like a conversation. He criticizes reductionist approaches to biology on the grounds that the action goes on at more than one level in a...

A response to Ziegler A, Faber C, Mueller S, Bartolomaeus T: Systematic comparison and reconstruction of sea urchin (Echinoidea) internal anatomy: a novel approach using magnetic resonance imaging. BMC Biol 2008, 6: 33.

The differences between classes and individuals are profound and the fact that biological species are individuals rather than classes provides the basis for organizing knowledge on a causal basis. The class of species is a natural kind and there are laws of nature for this and other classes of natural kinds such as the organism and the molecule. Pa...

Although Charles Darwin never presented an explicit theory of society he wrote extensively on topics related to the origin and evolution of society. His ideas were influenced by classical economists, especially Adam Smith. His naturalistic and comparative studies on diverse societies affected his views on social and economic progress. His research...

Here we use histological sections and, to a limited extent, scanning electron microscopy to ascertain whether siphons or siphonal grooves parallel the stomach of five sea urchin species representing five higher taxa in the Echinoidea. We find a siphonal groove in Centrostephanus coronatus of the Diadematidae and in Caenopedina diomedeae of the Pedi...

The Mediterranean Sea is losing its biological distinctiveness, and the same phenomenon is occurring in other seas. It gives urgency to a better understanding of the factors that affect marine biological invasions. A chemoecological approach is proposed here to define biotic conditions that promote biological invasions in terms of enemy escape and...

According to Anton Dohrn, evolutionary development was performed in a single progressive lineage where some proto-annelid initiated an evolutionary development that went straight on via annelids and lower vertebrates to man. From that line, a kind of metamorphosing nature, certain branches were derived, like protists or worms or even tunicates, whi...

Chemical analysis of the secondary metabolite pattern of the nudibranch Hexabranchus sanguineus collected from the South China Sea revealed the presence of both sesquiterpenoids and diterpenoids, exhibiting very different structural features. Two new molecules, compounds I and 4, were isolated together with known compounds 2 and 3, and chemically c...

The paper tries to set right certain ideas about the history of evolutionary developmental biology. The main point is, that we had to enface the dominance of a comparative approach towards evolutionary developmental biology before 1900, which even later on was effective in Russia, for example, till the 1930s. The problem of the experimentalist appr...

The whole-part relationship is generally considered transitive, but there are some apparent exceptions. Componential sortals create some apparent problems. Homo sapiens, the Pope, and his heart are all individuals. A human being, such as the Pope, is an organism-level component of Homo sapiens. The Pope’s heart is an organ-level component of both H...

Interpretations of hermaphroditism have been influenced by the old idea that organisms can be arranged in a series from lower to higher, with human beings at the top, leading toward the angels and God (the scala naturae). The consequent notion that hermaphroditism is a primitive condition is still with us. Such issues need to be addressed empirical...

How much, if anything, morphology contributed to the modern synthesis is partly a matter of how one defines that term. In the strict sense, morphology is a purely formal discipline and had very little to contribute. Morphology may also be considered a kind of data, and when it becomes functional a better case can be made for its role in evolutionar...

The recognition of correspondences has long been a fundamental activity among systematists. Advocates of Naturphilosophie, such as Lorenz Oken, drew far-fetched analogies between taxonomic groups and all sorts of other things, including the Persons of the Trinity. They treated change through time either as analogous to an ontogeny or as the product...

Darwin proclaimed his own work revolutionary. His revolution, however, is still in progress, and the changes that are going on are reflected in the contemporary historical and philosophical literature, including that written by scientists. The changes have taken place at different levels, and have tended to occur at the more superficial ones. The n...

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Synopsis This paper is the product of a collaboration between a biologist (Ghiselin 1997) who works on the philosophy of classification and an economist (Landa 1981, 1994) who works on the ‘Economics of Identity’: how and why people classify people based on identity in the context of a theory of ethnic trading networks. In developing the ‘bioeconom...

Technical terms are apt to be misunderstood when they bear deceptive resemblance to ones used in every day language. Terms that are vague or equivocal can be misleading even to those who use them routinely. Sociobiological discourse is particularly misleading because it implicitly suggests metaphysical notions that conflict with the fundamentals of...

Both Carl Gegenbaur and Ernst Haeckel feuded with Anton Dohrn with respect to vertebrate origins and how one should study phylogeny. Although they argued about methodology, and also had serious differences with respect to philosophical issues, their different personal agendas with respect to research and institution-building may have been equally s...

Discussions of phylogenetic relationships and origins often use figures called "arche-types," or "reconstructed common ancestors." Here we discuss one such creature, the hypothetical ancestral mollusc or HAM. HAM first appeared 150 years ago as T.H. Huxley's archetypal mollusc and has speciated often since then. Radiations have occurred within both...

Some of the disputes about species concepts can be resolved through clarification of the conceptual issues. Others are intractable because incompatible preferences are being optimized. According to the current biological consensus species (taxa) are populations rendered cohesive by sex. The philosophical consensus has it that the species and other...

Although Lorenz Oken is a classic example of Naturphilosophie as applied to biology, his views have been imperfectly understood. He is best viewed as a follower of Schelling who consistently attempted to apply Schelling's ideas to biological data. His version of Naturphilosophic, however, was strongly influenced by older pseudoscience traditions, e...

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Ayala (F.J.) accuse Ghiselin (M.T.) de ne pas donner dans ses travaux les differents sens de la teleologie, particulierement dans l'evolution. en effet, la teleologie doit etre consideree comme un probleme epistemologique et non seulement comme un probleme ontologique

The first study on the biosynthesis of terpenoid metabolites in the porostome nudibranch Doriopsilla areolata is described herein. The de novo origin of two different groups of bi- and tri-cyclic sesquiterpenes, exhibiting opposite A/B ring junctions, has been clearly demonstrated by in vivo incorporation of labeled mevalonate. Surprisingly, metabo...

Three porostome nudibranchs, Dendrodoris krebsii from Mexico, Doriopsilla albopunctata from California and Doriopsilla areolata from Portugal, have been chemically investigated. The presence of sesquiterpenes of the drimane class in these molluscs has been confirmed. In addition, these species have shown to contain sesquiterpenes of ent-pallescensi...

The analysis of the Evolutionary Synthesis by Reif, Junker and Hossfeld (2000, Theory in Biosciences 119: 41–91) draws attention to language barriers that however important are far from impenetrable. The Synthesis is better viewed as a restoration than a revolution, and as something that occurred gradually, with no particular goal.

The species is one of the most fundamental units in biology. However, there are different concepts of what is meant by the term ‘species’ that reflect diverse goals and priorities on the part of scientists.

An entrepreneurial view of macroevolution is in line with thinking of natural selection as being more than just elimination of the unfit. Real innovation needs to be considered, and the ability to expand into new niches is crucial. Various factors tend to militate against change, some of which are intrinsic to the organism, whereas others depend up...

What do we mean by culture? This question has much in common with some that have been asked in the philosophy of taxonomy. The idea that species are not kinds of organisms, but rather wholes composed of organisms, suggests that cultural units may likewise be wholes made up of parts. If so, they are individuals rather than classes in an ontological...

The New Institutional Economics might have significant interactions with the economics of non-human societies. Some possibilities are considered in connection with the ideas of Yarbrough and Yarbrough on human societies. First, the need for enforcement may be less when the organisms in question treat one another as resources. Second, theories of th...

An evolutionary scenario incorporating recent advances in phylogenetic research begins with an opisthobranch-pulmonate common ancestor that was herbivorous and had some diet-derived chemical defense. The Nudibranchia and their closest relatives, the Notaspidea, form a lineage the ancestors of which had switched to feeding upon sponges and deriving...

Progress is a difficult concept, but the phenomenon itself seems to be more than just an illusion. In this paper we consider how a bioeconomic perspective can help to clarify matters, especially when we compare aspects of organic evolution to technological progress. Beginning with the influence of Malthus upon Darwin, we see how the latter''s ideas...

'The enterprise within the social sciences best poised to bridge the gap to the natural science, the one that most resembles them in style and self-confidence, is economics' (Wilson 1998, p. 195) 'The rich array of things to learn from other disciplines is too rich And not least of all, the need for economic theorists to work on something new and d...

Late in September of 1838 Charles Darwin read a book by Robert Malthus, and discovered natural selection. Darwin, then 29 years old, was the Secretary of the Geological Society of London. Malthus, who had died two years previously, had been the first professor of economics. The interdisciplinary relationship may serve to remind us of two very impor...

Atran's treatment of classification suggests a need to recognize the difference between ontological categories and less metaphysically fundamental distinctions. The shift that scientists have made from classes to individuals may not be as pervasive as he proposes, and the same may be said for the abandonment of essences. It is also possible th...