Abstract

Having as starting point that a proximal cause is one which effects can be registered in the states of an individual organism, in this work I will argue that what defines an ultimate cause is the fact that its effects can be registered in the evolution of lineages, and not simply in population states. This, on the other hand, not only will allow us to clarify how the developmental constraints can be understood as causes of the evolutionary phenomena; but also it will allow us to point the eminently historical character of Developmental Evolutionary Biology that Wallace Arthur lessened in Biased Embryos and Evolution. Thus, and following this latter reasoning, I will also try to show that, although the action of developmental constraints could happen beyond the limits of a population or a particular species, that does not imply that we are before a comeback of typological thought in Evolutionary Biology.