A combinatorial approach to angiosperm pollen morphology

Angiosperms (flowering plants) are strikingly diverse. This is clearly expressed in the morphology of their pollen grains, which are characterized by enormous variety in their shape and patterning. In this paper, I approach angiosperm pollen morphology from the perspective of enumerative combinatorics. This involves generating angiosperm pollen morphotypes by algorithmically combining character states and enumerating the results of these combinations. I use this approach to generate 3 643 200 pollen morphotypes, which I visualize using a parallel-coordinates plot. This represents a raw morphospace. To compare real-world and theoretical morphologies, I map the pollen of 1008 species of Neotropical angiosperms growing on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, onto this raw morphospace. This highlights that, in addition to their well-documented taxonomic diversity, Neotropical rainforests also represent an enormous reservoir of morphological diversity. Angiosperm pollen morphospace at BCI has been filled mostly by pollen morphotypes that are unique to single plant species. Repetition of pollen morphotypes among higher taxa at BCI reflects both constraint and convergence. This combinatorial approach to morphology addresses the complexity that results from large numbers of discrete character combinations and could be employed in any situation where organismal form can be captured by discrete morphological characters

Two Planets, One Species: Does a Mission to Mars Alter the Balance in Favour of Human Enhancement?

In this chapter we examine the implications of a crewed mission to Mars, possible colonisation of the planet, and the wider implications this may have on genetic enhancement in both a terrestrial and space context. We consider the usage of both somatic and germ-line genetic engineering, and its potential impact on the evolution of Homo sapiens. We acknowledge that a mission to Mars may require the usage of such technologies if it is to be successful. Our investigation suggests that the use of such technologies might ultimately be linked with the transformation of our own species. We also consider projected timescales for the development of these genetic enhancements and the ethical questions raised by the possibility of speciation. Cooperation among spacefaring nations in this context and the development of norms for the use of such technologies is desirable

Origins of the Qualitative Aspects of Consciousness: Evolutionary Answers to Chalmers' Hard Problem

According to David Chalmers, the hard problem of consciousness consists of explaining how and why qualitative experience arises from physical states. Moreover, Chalmers argues that materialist and reductive explanations of mentality are incapable of addressing the hard problem. In this chapter, I suggest that Chalmers’ hard problem can be usefully distinguished into a ‘how question’ and ‘why question,’ and I argue that evolutionary biology has the resources to address the question of why qualitative experience arises from brain states. From this perspective, I discuss the different kinds of evolutionary explanations (e.g., adaptationist, exaptationist, spandrel) that can explain the origins of the qualitative aspects of various conscious states. This argument is intended to clarify which parts of Chalmers’ hard problem are amenable to scientific analysis

Pere Alberch's developmental morphospaces and the evolution of cognition

In this article we argue for an extension of Pere Alberch's notion of developmental morphospace into the realm of cognition and introduce the notion of cognitive phenotype as a new tool for the evolutionary and developmental study of cognitive abilities

Is evolvability evolvable?

In recent years, biologists have increasingly been asking whether the ability to evolve — the evolvability — of biological systems, itself evolves, and whether this phenomenon is the result of natural selection or a by-product of other evolutionary processes. The concept of evolvability, and the increasing theoretical and empirical literature that refers to it, may constitute one of several pillars on which an extended evolutionary synthesis will take shape during the next few years, although much work remains to be done on how evolvability comes about

African-American health: the role of the social environment

Cooper and colleagues have noted that the forces affecting the health of minority populations are the same forces, on a less intensive scale, that affect the health of the overall population. 90 That is, we can view the health of the African-American population as the visible tip of an iceberg. This tip of the iceberg is a function of the average health of the entire population. Thus, an effective strategy must address not only the tip, but also should attack the entire iceberg and reduce the risk that it is creating throughout the population. Similarly, Wallace and Wallace have shown how the mechanisms of hierarchical diffusion, spatial contagion, and network diffusion lead to the spread of health and social problems initially confined in inner cities to suburban areas and smaller cities. 91 That is, because of the economic links typing various communities together, there are mechanisms that will ensure the diffusion of disease and disorder from one area to another. If unaddressed, the problems of stigmatized and marginalized urban populations will have adverse impacts on the health, well-being, and quality of life of the more affluent. Thus, investments that will improve the social conditions of a marginalized population can have long-term positive health and social consequences for the entire society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45781/1/11524_2006_Article_BF02345099.pd

The many faces of biological individuality

Biological individuality is a major topic of discussion in biology and philosophy of biology. Recently, several objections have been raised against traditional accounts of biological individuality, including the objections of monism (the tendency to focus on a single individuality criterion and/or a single biological field), theory-centrism (the tendency to discuss only theory-based individuation), ahistoricity (the tendency to neglect what biologists of the past and historians of biology have said about biological individuality), disciplinary isolationism (the tendency to isolate biological individuality from other scientific and philosophical domains that have investigated individuality), and the multiplication of conceptual uncertainties (the lack of a precise definition of “biological individual” and related terms). In this introduction, I will examine the current philosophical landscape about biological individuality, and show how the contributions gathered in this special issue address these five objections. Overall, the aim of this issue is to offer a more diverse, unifying, and scientifically informed conception of what a biological individual is