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Dan McShea

    Dan McShea

    Duke University, Center for the Philosophy of Biology, Faculty Member
    Papers
    Machine wantingmore
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    Publication Date: 2013
    Publication Name: Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
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    The complexity and hierarchical structure of tasks in insect societiesmore
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    Publication Date: 2001
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    Individual versus social complexity, with particular reference to ant coloniesmore
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    Publication Date: 2001
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    Origin and evolution of large brains in toothed whalesmore
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    Publication Date: 2004
    Publication Name: The Anatomical Record
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    The Geozoic Supereonmore
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    Publication Date: 2011
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    Variation in local body size distributions of fossil and modern taxonomic groups may reflect habitat and life-history differencesmore
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    Three Puzzles in Hierarchical Evolution1more
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    SYNOPSIS. The maximum degree of hierarchical structure of organisms has risen over the history of life, notably in three transitions: the origin of the eukaryotic cell from symbiotic associations of prokaryotes; the emergence of the first... more
    SYNOPSIS. The maximum degree of hierarchical structure of organisms has risen over the history of life, notably in three transitions: the origin of the eukaryotic cell from symbiotic associations of prokaryotes; the emergence of the first multicellular individuals from clones of eukaryotic cells; and the origin of the first individuated colonies from associations of multicellular organisms. The trend is obvious in the fossil record, but documenting it using a high-resolution hierarchy scale reveals three puzzles: 1) the rate of origin of new levels accelerates, at least until the early Phanerozoic; 2) after that, the trend may slow or even stop; and 3) levels may sometimes arise out of order. The three puzzles and their implications are discussed; a possible explanation is offered for the first.
    Publication Date: 2003
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    Metazoan Complexity and Evolution: Is There a Trend?more
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    The notion that complexity increases in evolution is widely accepted, but the best-known evidence is highly impressionistic. In this paper, I propose a scheme for understanding complexity which provides a conceptual basis for objective... more
    The notion that complexity increases in evolution is widely accepted, but the best-known evidence is highly impressionistic. In this paper, I propose a scheme for understanding complexity which provides a conceptual basis for objective measurement. The Scheme also shows complexity to be a composite term covering four independent types. For each type, I describe some of the measures that have been devised and review the evidence for trends in the maximum and mean. In metazoans as a whole, there is good evidence only for an early-Phanerozoic trend, and only in one type of complexity. For each of the other types, some trends have been documented but only in a small number of metasoan subgroups. Key words. complexity, trends, hierarchy, Metazoa, macroevolution
    Publication Date: 1996
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    Two-phase increase in the maximum size of life over 3.5 billion years reflects biological innovation and environmental opportunitymore
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    The maximum size of organisms has increased enormously since the initial appearance of life... more
    The maximum size of organisms has increased enormously since the initial appearance of life >3.5 billion years ago (Gya), but the pattern and timing of this size increase is poorly known. Consequently, controls underlying the size spectrum of the global biota have been difficult to evaluate. Our period-level compilation of the largest known fossil organisms demonstrates that maximum size increased by 16 orders of magnitude since life first appeared in the fossil record. The great majority of the increase is accounted for by 2 discrete steps of approximately equal magnitude: the first in the middle of the Paleoproterozoic Era (approximately 1.9 Gya) and the second during the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic eras (0.6-0.45 Gya). Each size step required a major innovation in organismal complexity--first the eukaryotic cell and later eukaryotic multicellularity. These size steps coincide with, or slightly postdate, increases in the concentration of atmospheric oxygen, suggesting latent evolutionary potential was realized soon after environmental limitations were removed.
    Publication Date: 2009
    Publication Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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    The evolutionary consequences of oxygenic photosynthesis: a body size perspectivemore
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    Publication Date: 2011
    Publication Name: Photosynthesis Research
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    The minor transitions in hierarchical evolution and the question of a directional biasmore
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    Publication Date: 2001
    Publication Name: Journal of Evolutionary Biology
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    Three Puzzles in Hierarchical Evolutionmore
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    Publication Date: 2003
    Publication Name: Integrative and Comparative Biology
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    Evolutionary Change in the Morphological Complexity of the Mammalian Vertebral Columnmore
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    ... R' GgGGg SgsSSs IIIIII DDDDDD DDDDDD IIII DDDD Cm' GG GGG sgsssg IiIIII dddddd DDDDDDDDDd DDDd Centrum width C GG GGG GGGGGG idiiii iddiii DDDDDD DDDD R' GG GGG SSSSSS iiiiii dddddd IIIIII iiii Cm' GG GGG SgsSSs... more
    ... R' GgGGg SgsSSs IIIIII DDDDDD DDDDDD IIII DDDD Cm' GG GGG sgsssg IiIIII dddddd DDDDDDDDDd DDDd Centrum width C GG GGG GGGGGG idiiii iddiii DDDDDD DDDD R' GG GGG SSSSSS iiiiii dddddd IIIIII iiii Cm' GG GGG SgsSSs diidii diddid iddidd Iiii ...
    Publication Date: 1993
    Publication Name: Evolution
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    A COMPLEXITY DRAIN ON CELLS IN THE EVOLUTION OF MULTICELLULARITYmore
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    Publication Date: 2002
    Publication Name: Evolution
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    A Revised Darwinismmore
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    Publication Date: 2000
    Publication Name: Biology & Philosophy
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    Individual versus social complexity, with particular reference to ant coloniesmore
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    Publication Date: 2001
    Publication Name: Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
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    Biology's first law: the tendency for diversity and complexity to increase in evolutionary systemsmore
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    Page 1. The Tendency for Diversity & Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems BIOLOGY'S FIRST LAW DANIEL W. MeSHEA & ROBERT N. BRANDON Page 2.... more
    Page 1. The Tendency for Diversity & Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems BIOLOGY'S FIRST LAW DANIEL W. MeSHEA & ROBERT N. BRANDON Page 2. Biology's First Law Page 3. Page 4. Biology's First Law The ...
    Publication Date: 2010
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    Teleology-2012more
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    Special Issues for Journals
    Special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for Evolutionary Biologymore
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    Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to... more
    Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to the authors for contributing, and to Eveline Kolijn for the artistic cover (http://evelinekolijn.com/?project=evolutionary-patterns).

    Springer is granting free access to the full issue through December 31st, 2016 at http://link.springer.com/journal/11692/43/4/page/1

    Feel free to leave comments on the issue in this session!
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