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L-425 Spring 2018 (rsheehy) adings and Problems (CRaP) Google Hangout Discussion

ID: 197763 • Letter: L

Question

L-425 Spring 2018 (rsheehy) adings and Problems (CRaP) Google Hangout Discussions Classlist Quizzes Gra 6 Evolution of Sex Discussion questions for Gould& Lewontin/Myer papers questions for Gould & Lewontin/Myer papers Answer 2 of the following 3 questions Type the answers. Bring them to class. Be prepared to discuss and amend your answers 1) Who are (were) Stephen J. Gould, Richard Lewontin, and Earnst Mayr? Why are these men qualified to debate the topic of Adaptationist program? (you'll have to look outside these papers to answer this one). 2) According to Gould and Lewontin, adaptationists construct faulty explanations when they fail to consider options other than that the trait arose through natural selection Provide a few of their examples of faulty logic and consider whether Mayr would agree with these criticisms 3) Mayr makes recommendations about how an adaptationist program should be executed. Discuss those recommendations in your own words while comparing and contrasting them to the "Alternative Strategies" as outlined by Gould and Lewontin. #3) May, E. (1983) How to Carry Out the Adaptionist Program? The American Naturalist, 121:324-334 #4) Gould. SJ, Lewontin (1979) The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme. Proc. Royal Soc. B. 205:581-598 MacBook Pro

Explanation / Answer

Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science.  He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation. Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium. The theory was contrasted against phyletic gradualism, the popular idea that evolutionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and continuous change in the fossil record.

Richard Charles "Dick" Lewontin was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, he pioneered the application of techniques from molecular biology, such as gel electrophoresis, to questions of genetic variation and evolution.

Ernst Mayr, was a German-born American who made decisive and groundbreaking contributions to avian taxonomy, evolution and population genetics. Widely credited as the world's greatest evolutionary biologist in history, Mayr was fondly called the “Darwin of the 20th century”.

Gould and Lewontin both worked at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 1967 until 2002 when Gould died of lung cancer. When "The Spandrels" was published in 1979, Gould had already published Ontogeny and Phylogeny, which explores the relationship between how organisms develop and how species evolved from other species.

Adaptationism is the Darwinian view that many physical and psychological traits of organisms are evolved adaptations. Pan-adaptationism is the strong form of this, deriving from the early 20th century modern synthesis, that all traits are adaptations, a view now shared by few biologists. Adaptationists perform research to try to distinguish adaptations from byproducts or random variation. George Williams' Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966) was highly influential in its development, defining some of the heuristics used to identify adaptations. Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Lewontin and Ernst Mayr were qualified to debate the topic of adaptationist programme because they all have great works in the field of Evolutionary Biology.