[Cladismus and a 'historical' turn in the study of functional adaptation. A critical commentary on Rehkämper].
In a recently published article, Gert Rehkämper takes a critical stance towards cladistic influences on modern comparative morphology. He singles out as culprits a pre-darwinian notion of homology, a neglect of functional thinking and a misunderstanding of the principle of actualism. Furthermore, 'history' should not be used as an explanatory principle. In contrast, I argue that most central notions in evolutionary biology carry a pre-darwinian heritage, especially the term 'adaptation', without compromising their usefulness in contemporary debates. With the advent of new techniques of phylogenetic reconstructions and comparative analyses, 'history' has become a powerful and quantitative explanatory resource.
Weber
T P
TP
Lunds Universitet Ekologiska Institutionen, Zoologisk Ekologi, Lund, Schweden. Thomas.Weber@zooekol.lu.se
D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000717:Anatomy, Comparative / Q000266:history*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005060:Europe; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D014481:United States