DOCSLIB.ORG

Collecting to the Core: Evolution for Everyone Anne Doherty CHOICE/ACRL, [email protected]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Against the Grain Volume 26 | Issue 5 Article 39 2014 Collecting to the Core: Evolution for Everyone Anne Doherty CHOICE/ACRL, [email protected] Louise F. Deis Princeton University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Recommended Citation Doherty, Anne and Deis, Louise F. (2014) "Collecting to the Core: Evolution for Everyone," Against the Grain: Vol. 26: Iss. 5, Article 39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.6873 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Collecting to the Core — Evolution for Everyone by Louise F. Deis (Science and Technology Reference Librarian, Lewis Science Library, Princeton University; General Science Editor, Resources for College Libraries) <[email protected]> Column Editor: Anne Doherty (Resources for College Libraries Project Editor, CHOICE/ACRL) <[email protected]> Column Editor’s Note: The “Collecting Story of Life.2 It definitely qualifies for the life over time with beautiful, colorful fossil to the Core” column highlights monographic coffee table, as it is filled with illustrations photos and illustrations, and Fortey has won works that are essential to the academic li- providing wonderful tableaus of prehistoric much recognition for his ability to explain brary within a particular discipline, inspired periods derived from “100 of the finest fossil science to the public.5 One would be com- by the Resources for College Libraries bib- sites from around the world.” Characteristic pletely edified and entertained by reading liography (online at http://www.rclweb.net). species are drawn, named, and placed in time any of the following books by evolutionary In each essay, subject specialists introduce and space, all in full color. Palmer includes biologist Sean B. Carroll: The Making of and explain the classic titles and topics that a gazetteer of sites, an index to species, a the Fittest, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, 6-8 continue to remain relevant to the undergrad- taxonomic listing of species, and a section or Remarkable Creatures. His ability to uate curriculum and library collection. Dis- depicting relationships (cladistics) among communicate abstruse concepts and clearly ciplinary trends may shift, but some classics animals based on fossil and biochemical sim- illustrate scientific stories makes him one of never go out of style. — AD ilarities. By contrast, paleontologist Michael the current preeminent authors writing scien- Benton has written The History of Life, which tific research with mass appeal. The chapters you can stick in your pocket, though it is also of Fittest begin with captivating stories from volution is fascinating subject matter available online as part of Oxford’s “Very great moments of scientific history, including for specialist researchers as well as the Short Introduction Series.”3 It is eminently the first use of DNA analysis, the discoveries Egeneral reader. Tracing a universe set readable, with 20 key photos, charts, and illus- of the icefish and the coelacanth, and the in motion by a “big bang” 13.8 billion years trations. His chapters include origins of life, tale of Trofim Lysenko’s pseudoscience. In ago, science scholarship has shown that evo- sex, skeletons, and life on land. He devotes Remarkable Creatures Carroll presents a lutionary change is never-ending. We have a chapter to “Forests and Flight,” when plants compilation of biographies learned that life emerged from stardust and and animals adapted to land-living, and he of famous naturalists and under “just so” conditions single living cells discusses the end-Permian mass extinc- scientists who have made arose. Throughout its 4.5-billion-year exis- tion and origins of modern ecosystems remarkable discoveries, of- tence, Earth has been shaped by cataclysmic and humans. ten under great hardships, as well as infinitesimal change, and the life in natural history, fossils, The lasting legacy of forms that began approximately 3.5 billion or species. He features the Charles Darwin rever- years ago have adapted to — or perished from groundbreaking work from berates through nearly — the many different conditions and circum- thinkers like Alexander all present-day work on stances. Recent decades have brought new von Humboldt, Charles evolution. Modern sci- discoveries from the field by paleontologists Darwin, Alfred Russel entists not only build on and biologists and in the laboratory by mo- Wallace, and Henry Walter Bates, then Darwin’s hypotheses and observations, they lecular biologists and geneticists. This essay moves into the modern molecular basis for use his lyrical language. One of the most discusses evolution books (largely specific to evolution with stories about Linus Pauling, recent to do so is author Carl Zimmer, an animals) aimed primarily at the general public Emile Zuckerkandl, Allan Wilson, Vincent award-winning and reliable source for elo- or nonscience student. Any single one of Sarich, Mark Stoneking, and Svante Pääbo. these titles offers an accessible background to quent popular science writing. His 2014 The evolutionary science; as a whole, they provide Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution Any list discussing monographs on evolu- a small collection of contemporary general is a valuable textbook whose title alludes to tion should also include work by the influen- works for anyone interested in evolution and Darwin’s poetic imagery, from the concluding tial paleontologist and evolutionary biologist the history of life on Earth. pages of the Origin of Species, of an “entan- Stephen Jay Gould. Of his many works, Wonderful Life is included here because of its Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de gled bank” teeming with interdependent life forms.4 Zimmer briefly defines evolution discussion of the Burgess Shale Formation Buffon, natural historian of wide-ranging 9 as “descent with modification” and sets out found in the Canadian Rockies. These are interests, conceived of the ideas of geological fascinating fossils of many different soft-bod- history and paleontology in the mid-eigh- his agenda with the statement, “Understand- ing evolution is too important to be limited ied fauna that appear to have no descendants, teenth century, preceding those with much an example of “chance” evolution. In this more familiar names in the foundation of evo- only to evolutionary biologists.” He begins with “Walking Whales,” showing that some book Gould also echoes Darwin’s ideas lutionary theory: Charles Darwin, Alfred regarding the testability of evolution — its Russel Wallace, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck. forms of life returned to the water; additional chapters cover geology and paleontology, the unpredictability and contingent nature — by Additional credit belongs to George Gaylord explaining theories via “embryology, bioge- Simpson, Alfred Romer, and Lynn Margulis biological tree of life, how change can occur, molecular evolution, adaptation, sex, origins, ography, the fossil record, vestigial organs, for testing and transforming evolutionary the- and taxonomic relationships.”10 Andrew ory into proven fact. John Maynard Smith and macroevolution. The final three chapters deal with the evolution of humans and behav- Knoll (Professor of Natural History and deserves recognition as having written one of Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences the twentieth century’s seminal works in the ior, as well as evolutionary medicine. Each chapter has a generous bibliography pointing at Harvard University) deserves inclusion field,The Theory of Evolution, first published also for his scholarly yet lucid book Life on a by Penguin in 1958 with a 1993 canto edition readers to further research and nearly every page features a color photo, illustration, chart, Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of from Cambridge University Press featuring Evolution on Earth.11 He writes picturesquely, 1 or graph. a foreword by Richard Dawkins. Whereas even though the book does not contain many Maynard Smith’s work is perhaps the most If pictures appeal, certainly Fossils: The pictures or illustrations, and the epilogue is dense cited here (though quite comprehensible History of Life by Richard Fortey, former particularly eloquent. This book includes a for the general reader), the most beautiful senior paleontologist at London’s Natural lengthy section for further reading. Paleon- book in this list is easily evolutionary bi- History Museum, deserves inclusion. Now tologist Neil Shubin is Professor of Anatomy ologist Douglas Palmer’s Evolution: The in its fourth edition, this volume illustrates continued on page 69 68 Against the Grain / November 2014 <http://www.against-the-grain.com> OVER and evolutionary biology at the University religion. His later book, Genetics of Original Collecting to the Core of Chicago, wrote Why Evolution Is True.14 Sin: The Impact of Natural Selection on the from page 68 He defines evolution and explains how we Future of Humanity, is outstanding, but rather can tell the age of fossils by what is “Written despairing of humanity’s destructiveness.17 Si- at the University of Chicago and was part of in the Rocks.” Coyne discusses embryonic mon Conway Morris, a paleobiologist, takes a team to discover a missing link in the evo- development and dead ends, with chapters the position that evolution is more patterned lution of creatures from sea to land, Tiktaalik on sexual selection
Recommended publications
  • Alfred Romer – Wikipedia

    Alfred Romer – Wikipedia

    Alfred Romer – Wikipedia https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Romer aus Wikipedia, der freien Enzyklopädie Alfred Sherwood Romer (* 28. Dezember 1894 in White Plains, New York; † 5. November 1973) war ein US-amerikanischer Paläontologe. Sein Fachgebiet war die Evolution der Wirbeltiere. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Romer-Lücke 3 Auszeichnungen und Ehrungen 4 Schriften 5 Weblinks 6 Einzelnachweise Leben Alfred Sherwood Romer wurde in White Plains, New York geboren, wo er seinen High-School-Abschluss machte. Danach arbeitete er ein Jahr lang als Angestellter bei der Eisenbahn und entschloss sich dann doch für den Besuch eines College. Mit Hilfe eines Stipendiums vom Amherst College konnte er dort Geschichte und deutsche Literatur studieren. Durch häufige Besuche des American Museum of Natural History entdeckte er seine Begeisterung für naturkundliche Fossilien. Bei Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs meldete er sich als Freiwilliger zum Kriegsdienst und wurde sofort in Frankreich eingesetzt. 1919 kam er zurück nach New York und nahm das Studium der Biologie an der Columbia University auf, das er bereits zwei Jahre später mit der Promotion abschloss. Danach war er als wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft an der Bellevue Medical School der New York University beschäftigt und lehrte insbesondere Histologie, Embryologie und Allgemeine Anatomie. 1923 erhielt er einen Ruf von der Universität Chicago, wo er seine spätere Ehefrau Ruth kennenlernte, mit der er drei Kinder hatte. In Chicago fand er Bedingungen vor, die es ihm ermöglichten, sein Hauptinteresse zu intensivieren - die Paläontologie. So entstanden in den Jahren von 1925 bis 1935 37 Fachartikel, die sich mit diesem Thema befassten. 1934 wurde er zum Professor für Biologie an der Harvard University ernannt.
  • Book Review: Jerry A. Coyne's Why Evolution Is True

    Book Review: Jerry A. Coyne's Why Evolution Is True

    A peer-reviewed electronic journal published by the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies ISSN 1541-0099 20(1) – June 2009 Book review: Jerry A. Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True Russell Blackford, Monash University Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Evolution and Technology Journal of Evolution and Technology - Vol. 20 Issue 1 – June 2009 - pgs 61-66 http://jetpress.org/v20/blackford.htm Why Evolution Is True. By Jerry A. Coyne. Viking, New York, 2009. 282 pp., $27.95 (hardback). ISBN: 978 0 670 02053 9 (all page references to this edition) Jerry A. Coyne is a professor at the University of Chicago, where his research focuses on evolutionary genetics and speciation. In Why Evolution Is True, he presents a full-scale defence of modern evolutionary theory, which can, so he notes, be described in one long sentence: Life on earth evolved gradually beginning with one primitive species – perhaps a self-replicating molecule – that lived more than 3.5 billion years ago; it then branched out over time, throwing off many new and diverse species; and the mechanism for most (but not all) of evolutionary change is natural selection. (3.) This breaks down into six components: the fact of evolution, in the sense of genetic change over time; the idea of gradualism, of changes taking place over many generations (although sometimes they come about relatively quickly, depending on the evolutionary pressures operating); the phenomenon of speciation, whereby new species split off from existing lineages; the common ancestry of different species, since new species,
  • Evolution Is a Short-Order Cook, Not a Watchmaker

    Evolution Is a Short-Order Cook, Not a Watchmaker

    NATURE|Vol 435|19 May 2005 CORRESPONDENCE When science meets religion in the classroom SIR – In the Editorial “Dealing with design” such a reconciliation impossible because faith scientific challenges to their faith should seek (Nature434,1053; 2005), Natureclaims that and science are two mutually exclusive ways guidance from a theologian, not a scientist. scientists have not dealt effectively with the of looking at the world. For such scientists, Scientists should never have to apologize for threat to evolutionary biology posed by Natureapparently prescribes hypocrisy. The teaching science. ‘intelligent design’ (ID) creationism. Rather real business of science teachers is to teach Jerry Coyne than ignoring, dismissing or attacking ID, science, not to help students shore up world- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University scientists should, the editors suggest, learn views that crumble when they learn science. of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA how religious people can come to terms And ID creationism is not science, despite Peter AtkinsLincoln College, University of Oxford with science, and teach these methods of the editors’ suggestion that ID “tries to use Colin BlakemoreMedical Research Council, London accommodation in the classroom. The goal scientific methods to find evidence of God in Richard DawkinsOxford University Museum, University of Oxford of science education should thus be “to point nature”. Rather, advocates of ID pretend to use Steve JonesGalton Laboratories, University College London to options other than ID for reconciling scientific methods to support their religious Richard LewontinMuseum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University science and belief ”. In this way, students’ faith preconceptions. It has no more place in the John Maddox 9 Pitt Street, London W8 4NX will not be challenged by scientific truth, and biology classroom than geocentrism has in Paul NurseThe Rockefeller University, New York evolution will triumph.
  • Molecular Evolution

    Molecular Evolution

    An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Molecular Evolution An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Outline • Evolutionary Tree Reconstruction • “Out of Africa” hypothesis • Did we evolve from Neanderthals? • Distance Based Phylogeny • Neighbor Joining Algorithm • Additive Phylogeny • Least Squares Distance Phylogeny • UPGMA • Character Based Phylogeny • Small Parsimony Problem • Fitch and Sankoff Algorithms • Large Parsimony Problem • Evolution of Wings • HIV Evolution • Evolution of Human Repeats An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Early Evolutionary Studies • Anatomical features were the dominant criteria used to derive evolutionary relationships between species since Darwin till early 1960s • The evolutionary relationships derived from these relatively subjective observations were often inconclusive. Some of them were later proved incorrect An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Evolution and DNA Analysis: the Giant Panda Riddle • For roughly 100 years scientists were unable to figure out which family the giant panda belongs to • Giant pandas look like bears but have features that are unusual for bears and typical for raccoons, e.g., they do not hibernate • In 1985, Steven O’Brien and colleagues solved the giant panda classification problem using DNA sequences and algorithms An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Evolutionary Tree of Bears and Raccoons An Introduction to Bioinformatics Algorithms www.bioalgorithms.info Evolutionary Trees: DNA-based Approach • 40 years ago: Emile Zuckerkandl and Linus Pauling brought reconstructing evolutionary relationships with DNA into the spotlight • In the first few years after Zuckerkandl and Pauling proposed using DNA for evolutionary studies, the possibility of reconstructing evolutionary trees by DNA analysis was hotly debated • Now it is a dominant approach to study evolution.
  • Concentration-Affinity Equivalence in Gene Regulation: Convergence Of

    Concentration-Affinity Equivalence in Gene Regulation: Convergence Of

    Proc. Nad. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 85, pp. 4784-4788, July 1988 Evolution Concentration-affinity equivalence in gene regulation: Convergence of genetic and environmental effects (phenocopies/parallel evolution/genetic assimilation/expressivity/penetrance) EMILE ZUCKERKANDL* AND RUXTON VILLETt *Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine, 440 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94306; and tU.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, National Program Staff, Building 05S, BARC-West, Beltsville, MD 20705 Communicated by Francisco J. Ayala, March 21, 1988 ABSTRACT It is proposed that equivalent phenotypic affinity can also be altered by a reversible structural change effects can be obtained by either structural changes in macro- in the protein, resulting in a modification of specific fit molecules involved in gene regulation or changes in activity of between macromolecules and brought about by a combina- the structurally unaltered macromolecules. This equivalence tion with, or by the release of, an effector. An important between changes in activity (concentration) and changes in variant of the latter process is a reversible formation of a structure can come into play within physiologically plausible covalent compound between a polynucleotide-binding pro- limits and seems to represent an important interface between tein and some other organic moiety (e.g., acetylation, ADP- environment and genome-namely, between environmentally ribosylation; see ref. 6). The potential equivalence is between determined and genetically determined gene expression. The the effect of a change in component concentration (activity) equivalence principle helps explain the appearance of pheno- under a constant structural state and the effect ofa structural copies. It also points to a general pathway favorable to the modification under constant component concentration (ac- occurrence, during evolution, offrequent episodes correspond- tivity).
  • MOLECULAR CLOCKS Definition Introduction

    MOLECULAR CLOCKS Definition Introduction

    MOLECULAR CLOCKS 583 Kishino, H., Thorne, J. L., and Bruno, W. J., 2001. Performance of Thorne, J. L., Kishino, H., and Painter, I. S., 1998. Estimating the a divergence time estimation method under a probabilistic model rate of evolution of the rate of molecular evolution. Molecular of rate evolution. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 18,352–361. Biology and Evolution, 15, 1647–1657. Kodandaramaiah, U., 2011. Tectonic calibrations in molecular dat- Warnock, R. C. M., Yang, Z., Donoghue, P. C. J., 2012. Exploring ing. Current Zoology, 57,116–124. uncertainty in the calibration of the molecular clock. Biology Marshall, C. R., 1997. Confidence intervals on stratigraphic ranges Letters, 8, 156–159. with nonrandom distributions of fossil horizons. Paleobiology, Wilkinson, R. D., Steiper, M. E., Soligo, C., Martin, R. D., Yang, Z., 23, 165–173. and Tavaré, S., 2011. Dating primate divergences through an Müller, J., and Reisz, R. R., 2005. Four well-constrained calibration integrated analysis of palaeontological and molecular data. Sys- points from the vertebrate fossil record for molecular clock esti- tematic Biology, 60,16–31. mates. Bioessays, 27, 1069–1075. Yang, Z., and Rannala, B., 2006. Bayesian estimation of species Parham, J. F., Donoghue, P. C. J., Bell, C. J., et al., 2012. Best practices divergence times under a molecular clock using multiple fossil for justifying fossil calibrations. Systematic Biology, 61,346–359. calibrations with soft bounds. Molecular Biology and Evolution, Peters, S. E., 2005. Geologic constraints on the macroevolutionary 23, 212–226. history of marine animals. Proceedings of the National Academy Zuckerkandl, E., and Pauling, L., 1962. Molecular disease, evolution of Sciences, 102, 12326–12331.
  • Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: the Case of the Molecular Clock

    Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: the Case of the Molecular Clock

    Dartmouth College Dartmouth Digital Commons Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty Faculty Work 9-1-2007 Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock Michael Dietrich Dartmouth College Robert A. Skipper University of Cincinnati Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa Part of the Biology Commons Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation Dietrich, Michael and Skipper, Robert A., "Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientific Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock" (2007). Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty. 16. https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Work at Dartmouth Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Dartmouth: Published works by Dartmouth faculty by an authorized administrator of Dartmouth Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Manipulating Underdetermination in Scientiªc Controversy: The Case of the Molecular Clock Michael R. Dietrich Dartmouth College Robert A. Skipper, Jr. University of Cincinnati Where there are cases of underdetermination in scientiªc controversies, such as the case of the molecular clock, scientists may direct the course and terms of dispute by playing off the multidimensional framework of theory evaluation. This is because assessment strategies themselves are underdetermined. Within the framework of assessment, there are a variety of trade-offs between differ- ent strategies as well as shifting emphases as speciªc strategies are given more or less weight in assessment situations. When a strategy is underdetermined, scientists can change the dynamics of a controversy by making assessments using different combinations of evaluation strategies and/or weighting what- ever strategies are in play in different ways.
  • What Is the Viewpoint of Hemoglobin, and Does It Matter?

    What Is the Viewpoint of Hemoglobin, and Does It Matter?

    Hist. Phil. Life Sci., 31 (2009), 241-262 What is the Viewpoint of Hemoglobin, and Does It Matter? Jonathan Marks University of North Carolina at Charlotte Department of Anthropology Charlotte, NC 28223, USA ABSTRACT - In this paper I discuss reductive trends in evolutionary anthropology. The first involved the reduction of human ancestry to genetic relationships (in the 1960s) and the second involved a parallel reduction of classification to phylogenetic retrieval (in the 1980s). Neither of these affords greater accuracy than their alternatives; that is to say, their novelty is epistemic, not empirical. As a result, there has been a revolution in classification in evolutionary anthropology, which arguably clouds the biological relationships of the relevant species, rather than clarifying them. Just below the species level, another taxonomic issue is raised by the reinscription of race as a natural category of the human species. This, too, is driven by the convergent interests of cultural forces including conservative political ideologies, the creation of pharmaceutical niche markets, free-market genomics, and old- fashioned scientific racism. KEYWORDS – Molecular anthropology, Systematics, Classification, Human evolution Introduction In this paper I explore the intersection of genetics, taxonomy, and evolutionary anthropology. All three fields are scientific areas saturated with cultural meanings and associations. First, genetics is the scientific study of heredity, but has historically capitalized on non-scientific prejudices about heredity to curry support: hence James Watson’s epigrammatic proclamation in support of the Human Genome Project, “We used to think our fate was in the stars. Now we know, in large measure, our fate is in our genes” (Jaroff 1989; Duster 1990; Nelkin and Lindee 1995).
  • “The Church of the Homeless Jesus As a Home for the Holidays” Advent 4C (December 23, 2018) Rev. Dr. David A. Kaden &gt;&gt;

    “The Church of the Homeless Jesus As a Home for the Holidays” Advent 4C (December 23, 2018) Rev. Dr. David A. Kaden >>

    1 “The Church of the Homeless Jesus as a Home for the Holidays” Advent 4C (December 23, 2018) Rev. Dr. David A. Kaden >>Put a hand on our shoulder and point us in the right direction. Put our hand on someone’s shoulder and let it matter. Amen<< On Friday, Jerry Coyne, Emeritus Professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, published a piece titled, “Yes, There is a War between Science and Religion.”1 Science, he writes, searches for “truth about the universe” through observation, “doing experiments,” and “replicating … [the] results.” Religion, on the other hand, he says, searches for truth “via dogma, scripture, and authority.” “The conflict between [them],” he says, “rests on the [conflicting] methods they use to decide what is truth … .” I winced when I read Coyne’s characterization of religion with the words “dogma” and “authority.” I wonder if he’s ever been to a UCC church! Friday’s article was not the first time Coyne made this argument. He published a book on the conflict between science and religion back in 2015, which won mixed reviews in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. Mixed reviews, because it seems that whenever ​ ​ ​ scientists venture of course into the churning waters of the religious world, in order to criticize religion, they tend to take aim at the easy conservative religious targets: Coyne’s easy target is the dismissal of climate change by some more conservative people of faith, who ignore the warnings of scientists - an example of people of faith venturing off course into the ​ ​ world of science.
  • Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society

    Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society

    Proceedings of the Open University Geological Society Volume 4 2018 Including lecture articles from the AGM 2017, the Milton Keynes Symposium 2017, OUGS Members’ field trip reports, the Annual Report for 2017, and the 2017 Moyra Eldridge Photographic Competition winning and highly commended photographs Edited and designed by: Dr David M. Jones 41 Blackburn Way, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1JY e-mail: [email protected] The Open University Geological Society (OUGS) and its Proceedings Editor accept no responsibility for breach of copyright. Copyright for the work remains with the authors, but copyright for the published articles is that of the OUGS. ISSN 2058-5209 © Copyright reserved Proceedings of the OUGS 4 2018; published 2018; printed by Hobbs the Printers Ltd, Totton, Hampshire Evolution of life on land: how new Scottish fossils are re-writing our under- standing of this important transition Dr Tim Kearsey BGS Edinburgh Romer’s gap — a hole in our understanding t has long been understood that at some point in the evolution Meanwhile at a quarry called East Kirkton Quarry near Iof vertebrates there was a transition point where they moved Edinburgh in Scotland vertebrate fossils were discovered that are from mainly subsiding in water to living on land. However, until 10 million years younger than the Greenland fossils. These include recently there had been no fossil evidence that documented how Westlothiana, which is thought to be the first amniote (egg-layer) vertebrate life stepped from water to land. This significant hole in or possibly early reptile (Smithson and Rolfe 1990) and scientific knowledge of evolution is referred to as Romer’s gap Balanerpeton an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian.
  • Why Evolutionary Psychology Is 'True". a Review of Jerry Coyne, Why

    Why Evolutionary Psychology Is 'True". a Review of Jerry Coyne, Why

    Evolutionary Psychology www.epjournal.net – 2009. 7(2): 288-294 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Book Review Why Evolutionary Psychology is “True” 1 A review of Jerry Coyne, Why Evolution is True. Viking Penguin: New York, 2009, 304 pp., US$27.95, ISBN-13 978-0-670-02053-9 (hardcover) James R. Liddle, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Psychology, Davie, FL 33314 USA, Email: [email protected] (corresponding author). Todd K. Shackelford, Florida Atlantic University, Department of Psychology, Davie, FL 33314 USA, Email: [email protected]. Jerry Coyne is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. In Why Evolution is True (WEIT), he undertakes a daunting task: to provide a thorough yet concise and readable account of the evidence in support of evolution. It is difficult to overstate Coyne’s success in meeting this goal. From fossils and embryos to biogeography and speciation, Coyne not only reviews detailed evidence for evolution, but also explains why this evidence is exactly what we would expect to find if evolution were true, all with a writing style that is engaging and accessible. Coyne is also successful in what is obviously another of his goals, which is to provide a devastating response to creationist arguments. Several reviews have summarized the many excellent aspects of WEIT (e.g., Dawkins, 2009; Futuyma, 2009; Padian, 2009). In this review, we address an aspect of WEIT that appears to have been mentioned in just one other review. Futuyma (2009) briefly mentions Coyne’s critique of evolutionary psychology, suggesting that “one might make more allowance for the possible validity of hypotheses in this field” (p.
  • Jerry Coyne the Faith That Dare Not Speak Its Name the Case Against Intelligent Design

    Jerry Coyne the Faith That Dare Not Speak Its Name the Case Against Intelligent Design

    the new republic P august 22 & 29, 2005 21 Wolsky had fabrics made. “Samples long as we’re there, we might as well ap- pictures possible?” I asked who that per- would go back and forth until we could preciate the good ones. We might also son might be. Fellini said, “Piero Gher- arrive at the right weight, weave and col- remember that costumes are usually ex- ardi.” Gherardi was the designer, a long- or.... Everything that Tom Hanks wore tensions of the director’s concept of the time colleague of Fellini’s. He was out of was woven for him.” The facing photo of film. In 1964 I spent a day with Federico town at the moment, and by the time I Hanks in his long overcoat makes us Fellini in Rome while he was shooting got back to Rome he had died. But I nev- grateful for Wolsky’s care. Juliet of the Spirits. At the end of the day er see a Fellini film, which happens fairly I doubt that many viewers go to films I thanked him, and he said, “Why don’t often, without thinking of what the direc- in order to judge the costumes, but as you go to see the genius who makes my tor said about his designer. J Jerry Coyne The Faith That Dare Not Speak Its Name The case against intelligent design. I. Of Pandas and People evidence.... Intelligent design is an xactly eighty years after By Percival Davis and explanation of the origin of life that the Scopes “monkey trial” Dean H.