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American Zoologist 1989 29(3):1095-1103; doi:10.1093/icb/29.3.1095
© 1989 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Natural History and the Necessity of the Organism1

ALAN J. KOHN
Department of Zoology, University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195

Natural history, in focusing on the individual whole organism in its environment, occupies a central position in the spectra of spatial and temporal scales appropriate to biological science. This essay examines the current status of theory relevant to natural history, growing points of research within natural history, and its relevance to other components of biology. During the past 15 years, optimality, especially of foraging, and biomechanics, especially of individual organism-environment relationships, have been fruitful hypothetico-deductive approaches to animal natural history. Because of the nested hierarchical nature of biological organization, knowledge of individual organisms is necessary to understand more complex levels—populations and communities—as well as the roles of the component parts of organisms. For systematics and evolutionary biology, individual organisms preserved as specimens in natural history museums document knowledge of the biological world. Type specimens are especially important, as these "name bearers" that anchor original descriptions document all communication among biologists about species.


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