Skip Navigation

American Zoologist 2000 40(5):729-737; doi:10.1093/icb/40.5.729
© 2000 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gilbert, S. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Diachronic Biology Meets Evo-Devo: C. H. Waddington's Approach to Evolutionary Developmental Biology1

Scott F. Gilbert2,1
1 Martin Research Laboratories, Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

Conrad Hal Waddington (1905–1975) did not respect the traditional boundaries established between genetics, embryology, and evolutionary biology. Rather, he viewed them together as a "diachronic biology." In this diachronic biology, evolutionary change was caused by heritable alterations in development. Stabilizing selection within the embryo was followed by normative selection on the adult. To explain evolution, Waddington had to invent many concepts and terms, some of which have retained their usage and some of which have not. In this paper I seek to explicate Waddington's ideas and evaluate their usefulness for contemporary evolutionary developmental biology.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.