Article ID: CBB562352494

Before Hierarchy: The Rise and Fall of Stephen Jay Gould’s First Macroevolutionary Synthesis (2017)

unapi

Few of Stephen Jay Gould’s accomplishments in evolutionary biology have received more attention than his hierarchical theory of evolution, which postulates a causal discontinuity between micro- and macroevolutionary events. But Gould’s hierarchical theory was his second attempt to supply a theoretical framework for macroevolutionary studies—and one he did not inaugurate until the mid-1970s. In this paper, I examine Gould’s first attempt: a proposed fusion of theoretical morphology, multivariate biometry and the experimental study of adaptation in fossils. This early “macroevolutionary synthesis” was predicated on the notion that parallelism and convergence dominate the history of higher taxa, and moreover, that they can be explained in terms of adaptation leading to mechanical improvement. In this paper, I explore the origins and contents of Gould’s first macroevolutionary synthesis, as well as the reasons for its downfall. In addition, I consider how various developments during the mid-1970s led Gould to identify hierarchy and constraint as the leading themes of macroevolutionary studies—and adaptation as a macroevolutionary red herring.

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Authors & Contributors
Sepkoski, David Christopher
Boucher, Sandy C.
Stenmark, Mikael
Sheldon, Myrna Perez
Santos, Guilherme Francisco
Rudwick, Martin J.S.
Concepts
Evolution
Biology
Paleontology
Fossils
Morphology
Darwinism
Time Periods
20th century, late
19th century
20th century
18th century
Places
United States
France
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