The evolution of the nervous system 19 Sep 2009 Nature Reviews Neuroscience has a special issue out on the evolution of the nervous system. Good for them as has access… Evolution
Ecology and Biodiversity How not to Feyerabend 5 Oct 2007 On Monday night last, Jason Grossman, a philosopher form the Australian National University rang me with an idea. He was coming to my university to give a talk entitled “How to Feyerabend”, arguing that Feyerabend was a dadaist rather than an anarchist. I’d tell you more about his talk, but… Read More
Evolution Darwin’s motivation 5 Dec 2010 For some time now I have been convinced that Darwin’s original and most pressing problem was not adaptation. It was the existence of taxonomic diversity. I have thought that the debates over what was a natural classification amongst the unjustly derided Quinarians William Sharp Macleay and William Swainson were the… Read More
Evolution Two almost bear patterns from a partial Symocyon of a sesamoid “thumb” 14 Apr 2010 I’m really sorry for that pun. I’ve been waiting for years… Anyway, Laelaps (Brian Switek) has a lovely report on the panda’s “thumb” (actually, the sesamoid wrist bone being independently used by a bear lineage and a lineage closer to racoons than to bears, result in the giant panda and… Read More
Should be an interesting read. I’ve been reading up quite a bit on CNS evo-devo. It is an intereting case study in how evo-devo has brought evolutionary narratives back into the fore. Few seem to be asking if this is really the best thing evo-devo has to offer.