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Behavioral and Brain Sciences Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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Niche construction, biological evolution, and cultural change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2001

Kevin N. Laland ,
John Odling-Smee  and
Marcus W. Feldman
Kevin N. Laland
Affiliation:
Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdomkn11001@hermes.cam.ac.uk www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/laland/index.html
John Odling-Smee
Affiliation:
Institute of Biological Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6QS, United Kingdomjohn.odling-smee@bioanthropology.ox.ac.uk www.admin.ox.ac.uk/oxro/ad.htm
Marcus W. Feldman
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020 marc@charles.stanford.edu www.stanford.edu/dept/biology
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Abstract

We propose a conceptual model that maps the causal pathways relating biological evolution to cultural change. It builds on conventional evolutionary theory by placing emphasis on the capacity of organisms to modify sources of natural selection in their environment (niche construction) and by broadening the evolutionary dynamic to incorporate ontogenetic and cultural processes. In this model, phenotypes have a much more active role in evolution than generally conceived. This sheds light on hominid evolution, on the evolution of culture, and on altruism and cooperation. Culture amplifies the capacity of human beings to modify sources of natural selection in their environments to the point where that capacity raises some new questions about the processes of human adaptation.

Keywords

adaptationaltruismcooperationevolutionary psychologygene-culture coevolutionhuman evolutionhuman geneticsniche constructionsociobiology
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 2000 , pp. 131 - 146
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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