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The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection
... Zhuge et al. (2024) mention the potential of incorporating evolutionary learning as an alternative to gradient-based solutions. There exist several evolutionary theories, with those by Charles Darwin (1859) and Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (1873) recognized widely and of central importance to this paper. ...
... Darwinian evolution (Darwin, 1859) of "survival of the fittest" emphasizes the gradual evolution of species through random mutations and environmental pressures. This leads to variation within the population that is mainly based on random genetic mutations and recombination, leading to differences in traits such as size, speed, or strength. ...
... First, we discuss the approaches in SOHM that resemble the Darwinian theory of evolution (Darwin, 1859), the "survival of the fittest" paradigm. Following the framework outlined in Zhuge et al. (2024), the artificial agents in the swarm representing SOHM are executed as a directed computational graph (DAG), which we denote as G. ...
Multi-agent systems address issues of accessibility and scalability of artificial intelligence (AI) foundation models, which are often represented by large language models. We develop a framework - the "Society of HiveMind" (SOHM) - that orchestrates the interaction between multiple AI foundation models, imitating the observed behavior of animal swarms in nature by following modern evolutionary theories. On the one hand, we find that the SOHM provides a negligible benefit on tasks that mainly require real-world knowledge. On the other hand, we remark a significant improvement on tasks that require intensive logical reasoning, indicating that multi-agent systems are capable of increasing the reasoning capabilities of the collective compared to the individual agents. Our findings demonstrate the potential of combining a multitude of diverse AI foundation models to form an artificial swarm intelligence capable of self-improvement through interactions with a given environment.
... Darwin reconoció la dificultad de explicar por selección individual la existencia de las castas neutras y la esterilidad de los híbridos en los insectos sociales, dado que, aun siendo estériles, ayudaban a otros miembros de la colonia mediante actos altruistas. Varias fueron las conjeturas que él ofreció para resolver este problema, en la sección titulada "Objeción a la teoría de la selección natural aplicada a los instintos 9 : instintos neutros y estériles", Darwin plantea que la contradicción entre SN y la existencia de individuos estériles que arriesgan su vida para salvar la vida de otros es una dificultad que "esta dificultad, aunque parece insuperable, se disminuye o, según yo, desaparece, cuando se recuerda que la selección puede aplicarse tanto a la familia como al individuo, y así lograr el fin deseado..." (Darwin, [1859(Darwin, [ ], 2003. Traducción nuestra). ...
... Darwin reconoció la dificultad de explicar por selección individual la existencia de las castas neutras y la esterilidad de los híbridos en los insectos sociales, dado que, aun siendo estériles, ayudaban a otros miembros de la colonia mediante actos altruistas. Varias fueron las conjeturas que él ofreció para resolver este problema, en la sección titulada "Objeción a la teoría de la selección natural aplicada a los instintos 9 : instintos neutros y estériles", Darwin plantea que la contradicción entre SN y la existencia de individuos estériles que arriesgan su vida para salvar la vida de otros es una dificultad que "esta dificultad, aunque parece insuperable, se disminuye o, según yo, desaparece, cuando se recuerda que la selección puede aplicarse tanto a la familia como al individuo, y así lograr el fin deseado..." (Darwin, [1859(Darwin, [ ], 2003. Traducción nuestra). ...
... diferentes, o con las condiciones físicas de la vida. Es la doctrina de Malthus aplicada con múltiple fuerza al conjunto de los reinos animal y vegetal... (Darwin, [1859 En un párrafo anterior del mismo capítulo, Darwin ilustra las tres situaciones, mencionadas en el pasaje anterior, en las que afirma que emplea la expresión lucha por la existencia por "conveniencia" en un sentido "amplio y metafórico", advirtiendo su uso metafórico especialmente en la tercera situación. Esta afirmación se da en un largo pasaje, del que extraemos las partes inicial y final, que son las más relevantes para nuestros propósitos. ...
Resumen. Reconstruimos desde Darwin los intentos por explicar los comportamientos de cooperación y conflicto humanos y su evolución; haciendo explícitas las diferentes “imágenes de naturaleza” que tenían los principales contendientes e implicados en las controversias que engendró este tema. Mostramos que esas imágenes tenían a menudo fundamentos ideológicos, además de ser sugeridas por observaciones (cargadas de teoría) sobre el comportamiento animal que fueron realizadas por naturalistas en entornos ecológicos específicos. Esas imágenes afectaron la comprensión de la “lucha por la existencia”, como condición necesaria para la evolución por selección natural, así como las formas en las que se construyeron los modelos para simular los comportamientos en juego, teniendo en cuenta los niveles en los que se supone actúa la selección.
... The theory of natural selection, proposed in 1858/9 by Charles Darwin (1809-1882) [7] and Alfred Russel Wallace (1823Wallace ( -1913 [8], set out a different hypothesis, in which the characteristics of individuals within a population are variable, heritable, and linked to differential reproduction. The theory of natural selection caused a great deal of debate at the time of its introduction; it became widely accepted only in the early-mid 20th century, long after the death of Darwin. ...
... Unbeknownst to Darwin, the answer to this puzzle was being discovered virtually contemporaneously by the Austrian-Czech scientist and monk Gregor Mendel (1822-1884). Mendel published his findings in 1865 [13], only 7 years after Darwin's famous book The Origin of Species [7], but unfortunately his work was largely ignored during his lifetime. Its relevance for the theory of natural selection was realised decades later; indeed, Mendel is now widely regarded as the founder of modern genetics. ...
Population genetics lies at the heart of evolutionary theory. This topic forms part of many biological science curricula but is rarely taught to physics students. Since physicists are becoming increasingly interested in biological evolution, we aim to provide a brief introduction to population genetics, written for physicists. We start with two background chapters: chapter 1 provides a brief historical introduction to the topic, while chapter 2 provides some essential biological background. We begin our main content with chapter 3 which discusses the key concepts behind Darwinian natural selection and Mendelian inheritance. Chapter 4 covers the basics of how variation is maintained in populations, while chapter 5 discusses mutation and selection. In chapter 6 we discuss stochastic effects in population genetics using the Wright-Fisher model as our example, and finally we offer concluding thoughts and references to textbooks in chapter 7.
... Several common hypotheses are based on the assumption that male sexual and/or reproductive interest was the main driving force for the development of persistently protruding female breasts. The emergence of the previously unrivalled human female breast as a sex symbol has often been understood as a result of capricious male sexual interests "according to their standard of beauty" (Darwin 1911: Ch. IV) so that "the existence of permanent breasts in women is likely an aesthetic trait that has evolved by male choice" (Prum 2017: p. 256). ...
In this paper, the term childhood denotes the ontogenetic developmental stage of weaned mammal infants who are still helpless and need to be nurtured and protected for survival. Human infants have a pronounced childhood phase in contrast to great apes. For a hominin model scenario proposed here, it will be argued that upright bipedal locomotion facilitated early weaning and, as a consequence, the emergence of childhood. To raise their infants to healthy maturity by preventing early pregnancy after weaning, females exploited a succession of contraceptive traits, from concealed oestrus and adipose breasts to menopause. In turn, to ensure a sufficient reproduction rate of their own genes, males developed several related counter measures, from sexual objectification of female bodies as permanent mating targets, to altered male mental filters, then recognising young mature females as being beautiful and sexually attractive.
... As reported by Hayakawa et al. (2014) [72], Darwin wrote in his work "On the Origin of Species" [74] that the eyes are an example of organs of extreme perfection and complication. Darwin was convinced that they had only appeared thanks to natural selection. ...
In this review dedicated to the great protistologist Edouard Chatton (1883–1947), I wanted to highlight the originality and remarkable diversity of some dinoflagellate protists through the lens of cell biology. Their fossilized traces date back to more than 538 million years (Phanerozoic eon). However, they may be much older because acritarchs from the (Meso) Proterozoic era (1500 million years ago) could be their most primitive ancestors. Here, I described several representative examples of the various lifestyles of free-living (the autotrophic thecate Prorocentrum micans Ehrenberg and the heterotrophic athecate Noctiluca scintillans McCartney and other “pseudo-noctilucidae”, as well as the thecate Crypthecodinium cohnii Biecheler) and of parasitic dinoflagellates (the mixotroph Syndinium Chatton). Then, I compared the different dinoflagellate mitotic systems and reported observations on the eyespot (ocelloid), an organelle that is present in the binucleated Glenodinium foliaceum Stein and in some Warnowiidae dinoflagellates and can be considered an evolutionary marker. The diversity and innovations observed in mitosis, meiosis, reproduction, sexuality, cell cycle, locomotion, and nutrition allow us to affirm that dinoflagellates are among the most innovative unicells in the Kingdom Protista.
... The results open new avenues of research questions regarding what aspects of experience shape behavioural plasticity in humanaltered environments. In addition, while the Gal apagos Islands are a natural living laboratory that inspired Charles Darwin's formulation of the theory of evolution by natural selection (Darwin, 1859; P. R. Grant & Grant, 2014), our study adds to the growing body of knowledge that the archipelago is affected by anthropogenic impacts that are expanding globally. The Gal apagos yellow warbler, common in all the habitats of vegetated islands, is a good model system for studying the human impacts on this unique archipelago. ...
... A este nivel, la ecología está preocupada en la ausencia o presencia de especies en particular, su abundancia o rareza, y la tendencia y fluctuaciones de su abundancia (Begon et al., 2006). Darwin (1859) considera que todas las poblaciones tienen el potencial de poblar toda la Tierra; sin embargo, muchos individuos mueren antes de reproducirse y la mayoría (si no todos) se reproducen a un ritmo inferior al máximo (Begon et al., 2006). Este es el nivel de organización ecológica en el que se centran la ecología evolutiva, la genética ecológica, la biogeografía, la metodología de muestreo, la gestión de plagas y la recuperación de especies amenazadas (Schowalter, 2022). ...
Los estudios poblacionales en crustáceos nos han permitido evaluar las tendencias y la calidad de sus poblaciones en el presente para manejarlas y conservarlas en el futuro. Investigaciones que utilizan análisis morfométricos facilitan el entendimiento de la variación cuantitativa de la forma de muchos individuos, siendo claves para organismos como los crustáceos decápodos. El género Ocypode es considerado como un conjunto de especies que cumple un rol importante en los ecosistemas de playas arenosas al mantenerlas limpias y saludables. La especie Ocypode gaudichaudii se distribuye ampliamente en el litoral peruano y, aunque no se tiene mucha información sobre la biología y población de la especie en el país, se reconoce su importancia en el mantenimiento de las playas. El objetivo de la presente tesis es realizar un estudio de una población del cangrejo carretero pintado O. gaudichaudii en la playa Chancayllo durante el año 2019. Este estudio implica determinar la proporción sexual, la estructura de tallas, la densidad poblacional y la talla de primera madurez morfométrica para los organismos de la playa en estudio. Los principales resultados son que esta población presenta una proporción sexual anual de aproximadamente 1:1; tiene un rango de tallas de mayor proporción en el intervalo de 37.5 a 42.5 mm tanto en hembras como machos; y en individuos indeterminados, en el intervalo de 7.5 a 12.5 mm. La población presenta una densidad anual de 0.76 individuos/m2 con tres potenciales tallas de madurez morfométrica evaluadas con el largo del cefalotórax y la longitud total de la quela de 17.8 y 19 mm, respectivamente bajo el modelo de Somerton y de 15.5 mm para ambas medidas bajo el modelo de Splines. La población de O. gaudichaudii de la playa Chancayllo tiene una similar proporción sexual anual con ciertas diferencias estacionales, su densidad poblacional y estructura de tallas no difiere entre estaciones y esta última tampoco difiere entre sexos; por ende, tienen una misma talla de primera madurez morfométrica de ambos sexos, siendo Splines el mejor modelo matemático para calcularlo.
... However, one resolvable factor is bone architecture, the core skeletal scaffold for vertebrates and the focus of this study. In bone the composition, form and function of this living material is the product of the iterative process of natural selection 21 . Bone possesses multiple biochemical, physical and structural characteristics that aid in the function of vertebrate bodies, not just as a scaffold but as a factory for cell production and a store for nutrients and essential minerals 22,23 . ...
Pterosaurs were the largest animals to have achieved powered flight in the history of life on Earth, possessing wingspans akin to some modern light aircraft. Vertebrate fossils have shown their potential to retain information on the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of precursor bone. However, the fossil record is not a traditional source of inspiration for engineers to create palaeo-bioinspired designs. To explore its potential, this study has imaged the three-dimensional porosity of pterosaur bone intending to inspire and improve the mechanical properties of aerospace materials. Historically, two-dimensional histological analysis has resolved fine-scale structures in fossilised bone, which damages the sample. By applying advanced X-ray imaging techniques in this study (using Image Quality Indicators) we show it is possible to non-destructively resolve/verify the microarchitecture of pterosaur bone not previously seen in three dimensions. Pterosaur bone porosity has helped map the macroscopic stresses of this biomaterial but ultimately presents an opportunity to inspire advanced manufactured materials. This microarchitecture of bone offers a unique geometry where self-healing materials with internal monitoring systems can be developed. The iterative process of Darwinian natural selection has evolved multiple engineering solutions that can be reverse engineered to solve challenges facing industry in the 21st Century.
... Biodiversity and Evolution: Navagunjara's form, combining features from various animals, can be seen as a metaphor for the evolutionary tree of life. Evolutionary biology explains how different species are related through common ancestry and how diversification occurs through natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and gene flow (Darwin, 1859;Mayr, 1963) [55,56] . The depiction of Navagunjara can thus symbolize the branching and interweaving of evolutionary paths that have given rise to the rich tapestry of life on earth (Futuyma, 1998) [57] . ...
... Understanding sources and patterns of intra-specific variation in traits (e.g., morphological characteristics, such as fin length for a fish, wing size for a beetle) is a central goal of evolutionary and ecological study [11,18]. Intra-Predicted Masks on a Test Example Figure 1. ...
We study image segmentation in the biological domain, particularly trait and part segmentation from specimen images (e.g., butterfly wing stripes or beetle body parts). This is a crucial, fine-grained task that aids in understanding the biology of organisms. The conventional approach involves hand-labeling masks, often for hundreds of images per species, and training a segmentation model to generalize these labels to other images, which can be exceedingly laborious. We present a label-efficient method named Static Segmentation by Tracking (SST). SST is built upon the insight: while specimens of the same species have inherent variations, the traits and parts we aim to segment show up consistently. This motivates us to concatenate specimen images into a ``pseudo-video'' and reframe trait and part segmentation as a tracking problem. Concretely, SST generates masks for unlabeled images by propagating annotated or predicted masks from the ``pseudo-preceding'' images. Powered by Segment Anything Model 2 (SAM~2) initially developed for video segmentation, we show that SST can achieve high-quality trait and part segmentation with merely one labeled image per species -- a breakthrough for analyzing specimen images. We further develop a cycle-consistent loss to fine-tune the model, again using one labeled image. Additionally, we highlight the broader potential of SST, including one-shot instance segmentation on images taken in the wild and trait-based image retrieval.
... Till Roenneberg 1,2,3 1 Institute for Medical Psychology, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. 2 Institute and Polyclinic for Occupational-, Social-and Environmental Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. 3 Chronsulting, Peterskirchen, Germany. e-mail: roenneberg@lmu.de ...
... Thus, island species have had a strong influence on the development of evolutionary and biogeographic theory (e.g. [1,2]). The colonization of islands by humans in the late Pleistocene and Holocene marked the beginning of rapid losses of biodiversity on islands that accelerated during European colonization and continues today [3][4][5][6][7]. ...
Islands are well known for their unique biodiversity and significance in evolutionary and ecological studies. Nevertheless, the extinction of island species accounts for most human-caused extinctions in recent time scales, which have accelerated in recent centuries. Pigeons and doves (Columbidae) are noteworthy for the high number of island endemics, as well as for the risks those species have faced since human arrival. On Caribbean islands, no other columbid has generated more phylogenetic interest and uncertainty than the blue-headed quail-dove, Starnoenas cyanocephala. This endangered Cuban endemic has been considered more similar, both behaviourally and phenotypically, to Australasian species than to the geographically closer ‘quail-dove’ (Geotrygon s.l.) species of the Western Hemisphere. Here, we use whole genome sequencing from Starnoenas and other newly sequenced columbids in combination with sequence data from previous publications to investigate its relationships. Phylogenomic analyses, which represent 35 of the 51 genera currently comprising the Columbidae, reveal that the blue-headed quail-dove is the sole representative of a lineage diverging early in the radiation of columbids. Starnoenas is sister to the species-rich subfamily Columbinae, which is found worldwide. As a highly distinctive evolutionary lineage lacking close modern relatives, we recommend elevating the conservation priority of Starnoenas.
... Based on studies and trips, in On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin (1859), stated that all living organisms are descended from a common ancestor and all species exhibit similarities and a degree of kinship with one another. Building upon this idea, in his later work The descent of man, Darwin (1871aDarwin ( , 1871b argued that it made no sense to believe that "man is the work of a separate act of creation (…) [but rather,] is the co-descendant with other mammals of a common progenitor" (Darwin, 1871b, p. 386). ...
The laugh is by no means to be viewed from the standpoint of humor; its connection with humor is secondary. It marks the ending (that is, the attainment of a unity) of a period of suspense, or expectation, an ending which is sharp and sudden.
... This finding is consistent with previous research by Reddy (2008); Singh et al. (2010); Sharma et al. (2005); Sekar (2012), and Sundarapandian and Subashree (2017), which collectively emphasize that the America serves as a primary source of invasive taxa. The greater abundance of American plant species, particularly those from the Northern hemisphere, is attributed to their evolutionary history characterized by intense competition (Darwin, 1951). As a result, it is acknowledged that continents located in the Northern Hemisphere are significant sources of non-native species (Van Kleunen et al., 2015). ...
... Darwin explained this process, though its principles have been known for centuries and reflected in proverbs across cultures. 5 Despite its obviousness, classical evolutionary science focuses primarily on how natural selection favors better traits over weaker ones. While this is essential, true evolutionary scientists ask a more profound question: ...
The paper explores profound questions regarding the origin of matter, energy, and life, delving into the transformation processes that define our universe. It outlines the established conversions of matter to energy, such as through nuclear fusion and fission, while raising critical inquiries about the reverse process: the transformation of energy into matter—a scientific challenge exemplified by ongoing research at the European atomic center. Despite claims of success, the author emphasizes persisting uncertainties regarding the creation of stable matter from energy. Furthermore, it examines the principles of evolution and the emergence of life, proposing a novel perspective that challenges the traditional understanding of random genetic mutations. It argues that the evolution of new traits requires a complex interplay between genetic material and environmental cues, facilitated by the organism’s nervous system. This model posits that information gathered through sensory experiences may influence hereditary material, leading to inherited traits that evolve through intentional adaptations rather than sheer chance. Additionally, the text critiques classical Darwinism for failing to address the mechanisms behind trait emergence, advocating for a view that recognizes an intrinsic order in evolutionary processes. Ultimately, the manuscript calls for a deeper understanding of the principles governing transformation in the universe, positioning life as an expression of a self-regulating system where complexity and creativity coexist. This comprehensive discussion not only interrogates the current paradigms of biology and evolution but also evokes a broader contemplation of life’s origins and the essential questions that drive scientific inquiry.
... If the conditions of the recipient ecosystem permit establishment of a newly arrived species, it is considered invasible. In the invasion literature, there has been extensive discussion of the invasion paradox (Fridley et al. 2007) and Darwin's naturalization conundrum (Darwin 1859) as predictors of invasibility. These frameworks are not included here as they indirectly and inconsistently describe invasibility (Belote et al. 2008;Fan et al. 2023;Shea and Chesson 2002;Tilman 2004). ...
Human actions have led to large‐scale shifts in the distributions of species, which have accelerated over recent decades. Two contributing factors include the introduction of non‐native species to new regions, and more recently, the shift of species into new ranges to track a human‐altered climate. While the context of these species redistributions is different, we argue here that scientists studying the effects of either invasion or range shifting are interested in the same underlying mechanistic questions: (1) What traits make a species likely to survive in a new location? and (2) Which recipient ecosystems are likely to support a newly arrived species? A survey of the theoretical literature surrounding these topics demonstrates the usefulness of this comparison and highlights key differences between range shifting and invasion in factors including genetic diversity, climatic tolerance, local adaptation, and coevolutionary history. This review does not support the blanket application of an invasion framework to climate change‐induced range shifts. However, we suggest the use of modified invasion theories, experimental designs, and risk assessments could aid in predicting outcomes and prioritizing management resources for climate‐threatened species.
... GAs are population based, metaheuristic optimization algorithms based on the principles of Darwinian evolution. 50 An initial generation of potential solutions is scored according to a fitness function. Based on this fitness score, a new generation is constructed using crossover and mutation operations. ...
We introduce weighted atom-centered symmetry functions (wACSFs) as descriptors of a chemical system's geometry for use in the prediction of chemical properties such as enthalpies or potential energies via machine learning. The wACSFs are based on conventional atom-centered symmetry functions (ACSFs) but overcome the undesirable scaling of the latter with increasing number of different elements in a chemical system. The performance of these two descriptors is compared using them as inputs in high-dimensional neural network potentials (HDNNPs), employing the molecular structures and associated enthalpies of the 133855 molecules containing up to five different elements reported in the QM9 database as reference data. A substantially smaller number of wACSFs than ACSFs is needed to obtain a comparable spatial resolution of the molecular structures. At the same time, this smaller set of wACSFs leads to significantly better generalization performance in the machine learning potential than the large set of conventional ACSFs. Furthermore, we show that the intrinsic parameters of the descriptors can in principle be optimized with a genetic algorithm in a highly automated manner. For the wACSFs employed here, we find however that using a simple empirical parametrization scheme is sufficient in order to obtain HDNNPs with high accuracy.
... Cooperative behaviors are common in nature, and necessary for the evolutionary appearance of higher selective units -such as eukaryotic cells or multicellular lifefrom simpler components [1]. However, the survival of the fittest under the action of natural selection seems to foster selfish behaviors taking advantage of other individuals [2,3]. It is therefore intriguing how cooperative behaviors can emerge and survive in a world ruled by natural selection. ...
Traditionally, resource limitation in evolutionary game theory is assumed just to impose a constant population size. Here we show that resource limitations may generate dynamical payoffs able to alter an original prisoner's dilemma, and to allow for the stable coexistence between unconditional cooperators and defectors in well-mixed populations. This is a consequence of a self-organizing process that turns the interaction payoff matrix into evolutionary neutral, and represents a resource-based control mechanism preventing the spread of defectors. To our knowledge, this is the first example of coexistence in well-mixed populations with a game structure different from a snowdrift game.
... Reference [2] presents an amusing and intriguing discussion concerning these subjects. The mechanism leading to this forever-changing scenario is Charles Darwin's natural selection [3]. Each individual inherits the characteristics of its parents, with some small modifications, being similar but not identical to neither the parents nor the siblings. ...
Computer modelling for evolutionary systems consists in: 1) to store in the memory the individual features of each member of a large population; and 2) to update the whole system repeatedly, as time goes by, according to some prescribed rules (reproduction, death, ageing, etc) where some degree of randomness is included through pseudo-random number sequences. Compared to direct observation of Nature, this approach presents two distinguishing features. First, one can follow the characteristics of the system in real time, instead of only observing the current, static situation which is a long-term consequence of a remote past completely unknown except for some available fossil snapshots. In particular, one can repeat the whole dynamical process, starting from the same initial population, using the same randomness, changing only some minor contingency during the process, in order to study its long-term consequences. Second, evolution necessarily follows a critical dynamics with long-term memory characteristics, equivalent to the long-range correlations responsible for the well known universality properties of static critical phenomena. Accordingly, some strong simplifications can be applied, allowing one to obtain many characteristics of real populations from toy models easily implementable on the computer.
Iceland’s natural woodlands are dominated by the downy birch (Betula pubescens), while the dwarf birch (B. nana) is common in shrublands. These two species are the local sources of allergenic pollen that, however, may also be transported from outside Iceland (distant sources). This study aims to detect long-distance pollen
transport, elucidate its mechanisms, and assess the relative contributions of local and distant sources to Iceland’s birch pollen pool.
Pollen records (1998–2023) for Akureyri and Reykjavik were investigated using surface meteorological data, back-trajectories calculated by the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT) and transformed into Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF), complemented with Sea Level Pressure (SLP) and 500 hPa geopotential height (z500) patterns. Moreover, distributions of Betula spp. were modelled using random forest models to show the location of potential birch pollen sources.
We evidenced that birch pollen was transported across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, especially before the local pollen season, from Eastern Europe and Scotland, sometimes in large quantities (max:456 pollen m-3). The
SPIn in Akureyri was higher when pollen transported from the eastern part of Iceland or Scandinavia overlapped with the local pollen pool. In Reykjavik, pollen was transported from northern, western Iceland, but probably also from Greenland and Labrador. Betula spp. distribution maps in Iceland can aid future species distribution
modelling under climate change. This research enhances the understanding of Arctic pollen transport dynamics and highlights the need for further research on high-latitude pollen dispersion mechanisms.
The fossil record is our only direct source of evidence for how life on Earth has waxed and waned over its long history. However, the fossil record is also incomplete and biased in many ways, after passing through biological, geological, and socio-economic filters. This means that we only possess snapshots of information, relating to specific places and times in Earth history, from which to try and understand large-scale biodiversity patterns. Over the last fifty years, a wide variety of methods have been developed to try and elucidate macroevolutionary patterns by accounting for fossil record structure or bias, with varying levels of success. Here we review the different approaches that have previously been applied to this problem, and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. We illustrate this by applying a selection of these methods to the global brachiopod fossil record of the Permian and Triassic. Finally, we highlight some avenues for future improvement, including (1) using simulations to investigate method efficacy, (2) designing studies around testable hypotheses, (3) embracing uncertainty, and (4) improving the integration of data from fossil and modern organisms. Although we cannot know exactly how biodiversity has changed over life’s history, it is clear that new innovations in computational palaeontology are helping us to improve the trustworthiness of our estimates of biodiversity through deep time.
A principal aim of medical research is to provide understanding of medical issues. Medical explanation has two dimensions, biomedical and epidemiological. Biomedical research is grounded in a hierarchical explanatory model, namely a vertical biomedical reductionist, hierarchical model (pathogenesis), while the epidemiological approach is horizontal.
The clinical facts are pivotal, because the normal/pathological conventional split hinges on them and grants an epistemic priority to the clinical situation. Reductionism might have to be weakened and replaced either by a supervenience story or emergentism. Finally, Darwinian explanation with the Panglossian fallacy has limited explanatory power in medicine. There are no laws in biology.
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of psychology as a scientific discipline, covering its definition, historical evolution, and key areas of focus. It outlines the primary goals of psychology: to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. Major psychological perspectives, including behavioristic, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive, socio-cultural, biological, and evolutionary approaches, are discussed along with their theoretical foundations, contributions, and limitations. The chapter explores the basic and applied fields of psychology, such as developmental, social, cognitive, clinical, forensic, and educational psychology. Key issues like the nature vs. nurture debate, free will vs. determinism, ethics in research, and the replication crisis are addressed. Modern advancements, including interdisciplinary research, technology integration, positive psychology, and neurodiversity, are examined. Finally, various research methods—experimental, observational, survey, interview, correlation, and case study—along with ethical considerations in psychological research, are reviewed.
The current neuroscientific understanding of neural and mental functions is predominantly oriented towards the modular concepts of information technology. One aspect that is largely pushed into the background is the evaluation of brain function from an evolutionary point of view. The theoretical concepts of various scientific disciplines summarized in this book are largely based on evolutionary or hierarchical principles that can be applied to both neural and mental functions. The beginnings of this approach go back to the philosopher Herbert Spencer, who introduced an explanatory model for the phylogeny and pathologies of the brain with the concepts of evolution and dissolution. Hughlings Jackson found in the neurological symptoms of his patients Spencer´s principle of dissolution of the nervous system confirmed. From this point of view, cerebral lesions (dissolution) provide an insight into the phylogenetic development (evolution) of the brain. For Jackson, evolution represents a process from a state of the highest to the lowest organization, whereby he uses the term organization to describe the extent of the prefabricated automatic connections between the neural units. The validity of the hierarchical organization of the brain postulated by Jackson is largely confirmed by modern neurological research. Hierarchical principles of organization can be proven in the motor and somatosensory system, but also in the visual system.
The article analyzes and systematizes reports of local residents, travelers, explorers of the Russian North (Yakutia, the Taymyr Peninsula), as well as legends and folk tales of huge, yet unknown to science, lizard-like creatures inhabiting these parts of the world. The data is examined from folklore, ecological, and paleoecological perspectives. One cannot assert that this information is completely unreliable. Given the insufficient knowledge of the Russian North and the low anthropogenic impact on the area, it would be wrong to totally exclude the possibility that animals little known to science dwell there. The study assesses the theoretical feasibility of the existence of unknown reptiles and amphibians, which are difficult to access and study by traditional zoological methods, in the North and a few other parts of the planet.
This article discusses the many usages and meanings of the term species in biology, as currently applied (1) to named taxa such as Homo sapiens and Panthera tigris, (2) to a rank (usually but not necessarily the lowest and/or the most fundamental one) of the biological classification, and (3) as a variegated set of notions, the most important among them being the morphospecies, the biospecies, the ecospecies, the evolutionary species, the agamospecies and the taxonomic species. The debatable relationship between the Aristotelian “definition by spe-cies and genus” and the historical roots of the usage of genus and species as basic ranks in biological classification are outlined, as are the histor-ical roots of the scientific nomenclature applied to biological species.
While both psychopathology and cognitive deficits manifest in mental health disorders, the nature of their relationship remains poorly understood. Recent research suggests a potential common factor underlying both domains. Using data from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (N = 9494, ages 8–21), we estimated and validated a “c” factor representing overall cerebral functioning through a structural model combining cognitive and psychopathology indicators. The model incorporated general factors of psychopathology (“p”) and cognitive ability (“g”), along with specific sub-domain factors. We evaluated the model’s criterion validity using external measures, including parent education, neighborhood socioeconomic status, global functioning, and intracranial volume, and assessed its predictive utility for longitudinal psychosis outcomes. The model demonstrated acceptable fit (CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.021, SRMR = 0.030), and the “c” factor from this model showed stronger associations with parent education (r = 0.43), neighborhood SES (r = 0.47), and intracranial volume (r = 0.39) than “p” and “g” factors alone. Additionally, baseline “c” factor scores significantly predicted psychosis spectrum outcomes at follow-up (d = 0.30–0.57). These findings support the utility of a “c” factor in capturing overall cerebral function across cognitive and psychopathology domains, with potential implications for understanding brain function, improving clinical assessment, and optimally focusing interventions.
Reasoning from inconclusive evidence, or 'induction', is central to science and any applications we make of it. For that reason alone it demands the attention of philosophers of science. This element explores the prospects of using probability theory to provide an inductive logic: a framework for representing evidential support. Constraints on the ideal evaluation of hypotheses suggest that the overall standing of a hypothesis is represented by its probability in light of the total evidence, and incremental support, or confirmation, indicated by the hypothesis having a higher probability conditional on some evidence than it does unconditionally. This proposal is shown to have the capacity to reconstruct many canons of the scientific method and inductive inference. Along the way, significant objections are discussed, such as the challenge of inductive scepticism, and the objection that the probabilistic approach makes evidential support arbitrary.
This chapter draws parallels between Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory and modern business environments. It illustrates how companies that may not be the strongest or most technologically advanced often thrive by adapting to environmental changes. The chapter highlights the role of flexibility and adaptability in ensuring long-term survival in competitive markets, discussing how businesses can innovate and evolve to meet market demands, even under difficult conditions.
Esta pesquisa explora a integração de teorias científicas, filosóficas e teológicas para estabelecer uma base teórica sólida para a validação futura da Teoria da Predestinação. A temática centra-se na relação entre previsibilidade, causalidade e agentes conscientes, abordando o desafio de reconciliar perspectivas divergentes em um modelo unificado. Contextualizada em avanços recentes, como as teorias do multiverso e do caos determinista, a pesquisa enfrenta a problemática de como sintetizar tradições diversas em uma visão multidimensional. O objetivo principal foi compreender e integrar essas abordagens, criando uma estrutura teórica coerente para aplicação futura. Metodologicamente, o paradigma neoperspectivista giftedeano fundamentou a pesquisa, permitindo a adoção de teorias como o determinismo laplaciano, o princípio antrópico e as teorias do multiverso. O método hipotético-dedutivo orientou a formulação e a análise das hipóteses, enquanto uma Revisão Bibliográfica e Documental Narrativa foi conduzida em bases como Scopus e Web of Science, resultando na análise detalhada de 87 trabalhos relevantes. Os principais achados incluem a integração de elementos teóricos diversos em um modelo coeso e inovador, enquanto as lacunas identificaram a necessidade de estudos empíricos que validem as proposições. As limitações envolveram a dificuldade de integrar completamente todas as tradições teóricas e a escassez de dados empíricos disponíveis. As contribuições teóricas e metodológicas reforçam a relevância do tema, oferecendo ferramentas para avanços futuros na área. Este trabalho agrega valor à ciência e à sociedade ao propor uma abordagem multidimensional para temas fundamentais da existência humana.
The paper examines evolutionary elements in Adam Smith’s social theory, connecting them to an earlier contribution to natural history by George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. It then compares Smith’s analysis with those of Karl Marx and Joseph Schumpeter, who were fascinated by Darwinian evolutionary biology. This comparison demonstrates that while developing evolutionary approaches to the social sciences suitable for their respective subject matter, Marx and Schumpeter drew heavily on Smith’s insights. All three authors aimed to unveil the forces shaping the “process of civilization”, or society’s “law of motion,” along with its associated hazards. They pondered whether this process inherently led to rising living standards, along with “equality, liberty, and justice”, and whether it could derail, ending in a tailspin.
ABSTRACT
Education is concerned with the production of intelligence. Is AI intelligent? and what are the implications for educating humanity? Samuel Butler makes the case that machinery emerges in co-relation with the evolution of humanity. In other words, the evolution of machines relies on the human intervention for reproduction, and the evolution of human epistemology is shaped by the emergence of machines. Pre-empting themes of posthumanism over 150 years ago, Butler teases out the notion of intelligence in the evolution and communication of plants, animals, and machines. Stiegler worries that the rapid acceleration of automation, especially the emergence of the algorithms of artificial intelligence are disrupting the modern economic system by rupturing the relation between work and wages. Escalating entropy is overtaking the ordering of modernity. Education needs to engage with the contextual changes in modern expectations about work, as well as educational changes in thinking and learning.
Human interaction with birds has never been more positive and supported by so many private citizens and professional groups. However, direct mortality of birds from anthropogenic causes has increased and has led to significant annual losses of birds. We know of the crucial impact of habitat loss on the survival of birds and its effects on biodiversity. Direct mortality via anthropogenic causes is an additive but biologically important cause of avian decline. This is the focus of this paper. This paper synthesises and interprets the data on direct anthropogenic causes of mortality in birds, and it also discusses emerging and relatively hidden problems, including new challenges that birds may not be able to manage. This paper points out that such deaths occur indiscriminately and have negative behavioural and reproductive consequences even for survivors. All of these factors are important to address, because any functional habitat depends on birds. This paper suggests that some of this death toll can be reduced substantially and immediately, even some of the seemingly intractable problems. This paper also proposes cross-disciplinary solutions, bearing in mind that “ecosystem services” provided by birds benefit us all, and that the continued existence of avian diversity is one cornerstone for human survival.
Charbonneau (2014) and Papale (2021) challenge the necessity of reproduction for evolution by natural selection (ENS) by contending that what really matter for ENS are memory and (re)generation at the population level, rather than lineage-forming reproduction at the local level. In this article, we critically evaluate their reproduction-independent accounts of ENS and defend the importance of lineage-forming reproduction in paradigmatic ENS on both empirical and theoretical grounds. We argue that none of the empirical cases they cite can be used as evidence to demonstrate the existence of paradigmatic ENS without lineage-forming reproduction, and adopting their reproduction-independent views would lead to an account of ENS that is both too liberal and too strict.
The origin of evolutionary thoughts is traced. It is argued that two powerful ideas stood against a possible theory of species transformation, namely, the biblical doctrine of special creation and the fixity of species and Plato’s theory of Forms. Evolution was initially used in the sense of unfolding of the preexisting forms. A complete theory of evolution was first proposed by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who advocated the inheritance of acquired characters through continued use and disuse. The works of other pre-Darwinian scholars are also presented.
In 1866, Mendel, the father of genetics, proposed a theory of heredity based on the results of Pisum experiments he had conducted since 1856. Mendel’s experiments were meticulously planned, and he used a large number of plants for easier interpretation of results. He also focused on specific (binary) traits rather than examining the plants in toto. When one form of a trait was crossed with the other form, all F1 hybrids were of one of the two forms. This form was called the dominating form, while the other form was called the recessive form. When the F1 hybrids self-pollinated, dominants and recessives were obtained in the ratio 3:1 in F2. Mendel was able to further resolve the dominants in F2 into one part true-breeding (homozygote) and two parts hybrid (heterozygote). To explain his observations, Mendel postulated the existence of a factor inside each of a germinal and pollen cell, such that the two factors united during fertilization. Although Mendel’s work was referred by a few, it was largely forgotten until its independent rediscovery in 1900 by de Vries, Correns, and Tschermak.
Darwin’s development of the theory of evolution by natural selection is described. When Darwin started his Beagle voyage of 1831, he believed in the fixity of species. Contrary to the opinion of the population, he was not converted to transformism when he visited the Galapagos Islands during his voyage. Conversion took place soon after his return to England in 1836. Darwin was influenced especially by the writings of Lyell, Paley, and Malthus when constructing his theory. Darwin was reluctant to publish his theory, but when he discovered that Wallace had independently discovered an almost identical theory to his, a joint Darwin–Wallace paper was promptly presented to the Linnean Society in 1858. Darwin’s Origin of Species was published the following year. Of all the reviews of his groundbreaking book, the one written by the engineer Jenkin in 1867 was the most significant.
During the period 1915–1930, three key events occurred that enabled the reconciliation of Mendelism and Darwinism: (i) Castle and Norton proved the effectiveness of natural selection acting on small differences; (ii) Nilsson-Ehle and East showed that Mendelian heredity could explain quantitative traits, and (iii) Morgan and his co-workers demonstrated that most mutations were small rather than drastic changes. The reconciliation of Mendelism and Darwinism was done primarily by Fisher, Wright, and Haldane, and gave rise to the field of mathematical evolutionary (or population) genetics. The results obtained from this discipline constituted the modern synthesis, which was further strengthened by the investigation of field biologists working in related disciplines.
Questions regarding the transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring have been asked since very early times. Around 420 BC, Hippocrates proposed the idea of pangenesis, whereby body parts contributed their characteristics to the gametes. Camerarius first demonstrated sexuality in plants in 1694, while Kölreuter later obtained the first hybrids experimentally, and Knight was the first to observe segregation. In 1862, Naudin proposed that a hybrid consisted of two specific essences that were separated in the pollen and ovule. Unaware of Mendel’s work, Darwin proposed the provisional hypothesis of pangenesis in 1868.
A Treatise on Ecological Science provides a fresh perspective on modern ecological thought by exploring topics often overlooked in traditional ecological texts. The book opens with a discussion of Network Ecology, unraveling the interconnectedness of ecosystems, and transitions to the intricate relationship between biodiversity and climate change. It further addresses Human Ecology, highlighting its central role in shaping ecological discourse, and explores the principles of Industrial Ecology, emphasizing sustainable practices in industrial systems. The final chapter critically examines the Sustainable Development Goals, offering a balanced view of their benefits and limitations. Designed to bridge gaps between ecology, industry, and global sustainability, this book serves as an insightful resource for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in contemporary ecological science and its practical applications. Key Features: - Examines underexplored topics in ecological science. - Connects biodiversity, climate change, and human ecology. - Highlights the role of industrial ecology in sustainability. - Provides a critical analysis of Sustainable Development Goals.
If there were to be a questionable element about the theory of evolution, it would probably be the randomness of mutations that can be seen as the fuel of evolution. The idea that errors in DNA sequences are the source of species change does not seem acceptable to many scientists and philosophers. According to them, adaptive evolution, which suggests that some mutations occur purposefully, is possible. Both views seem scientifically supportable. However, science typically excludes purposes, especially due to their implications of the supernatural. So, the philosophical problem here concerns which metaphysical framework would better explain a natural world in which purposes are at work, assuming that adaptive evolution is real. In this article, I propose panpsychism as a candidate. Although panpsychism is a well-known metaphysical view, it has rarely been associated with evolution. Panpsychism simply states that all actual natural entities possess some form of mentality that is intrinsic to matter. Mentality must be present at the most fundamental level of existence to manifest in any higher-level form. This idea of panpsychism that mentality develops gradually is already compatible with the traditional view of evolution that species change slowly and incrementally by small steps. Nevertheless the adaptive evolution hypothesis demands more. The idea that organisms can alter their own DNA in response to environmental conditions implies that this process occurs voluntarily in a controlled manner. However, adaptation does not always occur voluntarily, and such an understanding becomes difficult to accept as it attributes higher-level cognitive functions, such as choosing, will, and decision-making, to cells and molecules. Thus, a more naturalistic approach is needed. Panpsychism can take many forms such as dualistic panpsychism or idealistic panpsychism. I suggest dual-aspect panpsychism as a wholly naturalistic version of this concept. Accordingly, mentality and physicality are two aspects of the same thing or stuff. Just as there is no mental causation from the mental to the physical, there is no physical causation from the physical to the mental. There are processes or events that manifest as physical happenings when observed from the outside and as mental happenings when experienced from the inside. Along with an interpretation of dual-aspect panpsychism that is compatible with physicalism, when we accept that the most plausible way to extend mentality to all actual entities is to think of it as intentionality, it may become even more easier to situate adaptive evolution within a naturalistic framework. Non-random mutations do not occur as mental acts of choice, but arise from the organism's behavior being about or directed towards selective environmental conditions for the purpose of ensuring survival. The article consists of two main parts. The first part seeks to establish the possibility that some mutations may not be random on a scientific-philosophical basis. The second part aims to show the compatibility of this possibility with dual-aspect panpsychism. As a result, it is hoped that an acceptable interpretation of evolutionary theory, combined with a naturalistic interpretation of panpsychism, will result in a fruitful synthesis that explains the seemingly purposeful actions of cells and organisms.
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