When is a trait an adaptation?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (4):524-524 (2002)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The authors outline research strategies that may identify the possible adaptive value of a trait. But this does not solve the problem of how to decide which characteristics of living organisms require an adaptive explanation. I suggest that knowledge of the ontogenetic and phylogenetic construction of a trait facilitates the identification of features that may have been acted on by natural selection.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The historical turn in the study of adaptation.Paul E. Griffiths - 1996 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47 (4):511-532.
Common ancestry and natural selection.Elliott Sober & Steven Hecht Orzack - 2003 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 54 (3):423-437.
Can Cumulative Selection Explain Adaptation?Bence Nanay - 2005 - Philosophy of Science 72 (5):1099-1112.
Functional explanation and virtual selection.Philip Pettit - 1996 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47 (2):291-302.
A straw man on a dead horse: Studying adaptation then and now.Marlene Zuk - 2002 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (4):533-534.
Evolution, the criterion problem, and complexity.Stephen M. Colarelli - 2000 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23 (1):151-152.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
27 (#506,730)

6 months
4 (#319,344)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references