Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-05T12:04:58.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Précis of Evolution in Four Dimensions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2007

Eva Jablonka  and
Marion J. Lamb
Eva Jablonka
Affiliation:
Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel jablonka@post.tau.ac.il
Marion J. Lamb
Affiliation:
11 Fernwood, Clarence Road, London N22 8QE, United Kingdom marionlamb@btinternet.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In his theory of evolution, Darwin recognized that the conditions of life play a role in the generation of hereditary variations, as well as in their selection. However, as evolutionary theory was developed further, heredity became identified with genetics, and variation was seen in terms of combinations of randomly generated gene mutations. We argue that this view is now changing, because it is clear that a notion of hereditary variation that is based solely on randomly varying genes that are unaffected by developmental conditions is an inadequate basis for evolutionary theories. Such a view not only fails to provide satisfying explanations of many evolutionary phenomena, it also makes assumptions that are not consistent with the data that are emerging from disciplines ranging from molecular biology to cultural studies. These data show that the genome is far more responsive to the environment than previously thought, and that not all transmissible variation is underlain by genetic differences. In Evolution in Four Dimensions (2005) we identify four types of inheritance (genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbol-based), each of which can provide variations on which natural selection will act. Some of these variations arise in response to developmental conditions, so there are Lamarckian aspects to evolution. We argue that a better insight into evolutionary processes will result from recognizing that transmitted variations that are not based on DNA differences have played a role. This is particularly true for understanding the evolution of human behavior, where all four dimensions of heredity have been important.

Keywords

cultural evolutionDarwinismdirected mutationsepigenetic inheritanceevolutionary psychologyinformation transmissionLamarckismlanguage evolutionmemessocial learning

Information

Type
Main Articles
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 30 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 353 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anway, M. D., Cupp, A. S., Uzumcu, M. & Skinner, M. K. (2005) Epigenetic transgenerational actions of endocrine disruptors and male fertility. Science 308:1466–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Avital, E. & Jablonka, E. (2000) Animal traditions: Behavioural inheritance in evolution. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Badyaev, A. V. (2005) Stress-induced variation in evolution: From behavioural plasticity to genetic assimilation. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 272:877–86.Google ScholarPubMed
Bateson, P., Barker, D., Clutton-Brock, T., Deb, D., D'Udine, B., Foley, R. A., Gluckman, P., Godfrey, K., Kirkwood, T., Lahr, M. M., McNamara, J., Metcalfe, N. B., Monaghan, P., Spencer, H. G. & Sultan, S. E. (2004) Developmental plasticity and human health. Nature 430:419–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belyaev, D. K. & Borodin, P. M. (1982) The influence of stress on variation and its role in evolution. Biologisches Zentralblatt 100:705–14.Google Scholar
Bunn, H. F. (1997) Pathogenesis and treatment of sickle cell disease. New England Journal of Medicine 337:762–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, J. H. & Perkins, P. (1988) Transgenerational effects of drug and hormonal treatments in animals: A review of observations and ideas. Progress in Brain Research 73:535–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caporale, L. (2003) Natural selection and the emergence of a mutation phenotype: An update of the evolutionary synthesis considering mechanisms that effect genome variation. Annual Review of Microbiology 57:467–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Constância, M., Kelsey, G. & Reik, W. (2004) Resourceful imprinting. Nature 432:53–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darwin, C. (1859) On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. John Murray.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1976) The selfish gene. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1982) The extended phenotype. Freeman/Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dobzhansky, T. (1937) Genetics and the origin of species. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Dolinoy, D. C., Weidman, J. R., Waterland, R. A. & Jirtle, R. L. (2006) Maternal genistein alters coat color and protects A vy mouse offspring from obesity by modifying the fetal epigenome. Environmental Health Perspectives 114:567–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dor, D. & Jablonka, E. (2000) From cultural selection to genetic selection: A framework for the evolution of language. Selection 1:33–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubrova, Y. E. (2003) Radiation-induced transgenerational instability. Oncogene 22:7087–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fontdevila, A. (2005) Hybrid genome evolution by transposition. Cytogenetic and Genome Research 110:49–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fragaszy, D. M. & Perry, S. (2003) The biology of traditions. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gluckman, P. & Hanson, M. (2005) The fetal matrix: Evolution, development and disease. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Griesemer, J. (2002) What is “epi-” about epigenetics? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 981:97–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffiths, P. E. & Gray, R. D. (1994) Developmental systems and evolutionary explanation. Journal of Philosophy 91:277–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haig, D. (2002) Genomic imprinting and kinship. Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Haldane, J. B. S. (1954) Introducing Douglas Spalding. British Journal of Animal Behaviour 2:1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunt, G. R. & Gray, R. D. (2003) Diversification and cumulative evolution in New Caledonian crow tool manufacture. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 270:867–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jablonka, E. (2002) Information: Its interpretation, its inheritance, and its sharing. Philosophy of Science 69:578–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jablonka, E. (2004c) The evolution of the peculiarities of mammalian sex chromosomes: An epigenetic view. BioEssays 26:1327–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jablonka, E. & Lamb, M. J. (1995) Epigenetic inheritance and evolution: The Lamarckian dimension. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jablonka, E. & Lamb, M. J. (2005) Evolution in four dimensions: Genetic, epigenetic, behavioral, and symbolic variation in the history of life. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Johannsen, W. (1911) The genotype conception of heredity. American Naturalist 45:129–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorgensen, R. A. (2004) Restructuring the genome in response to adaptive challenge: McClintock's bold conjecture revisited. Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 69:349–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, E. F. (2000) The century of the gene. Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levenson, J. M. & Sweatt, J. D. (2005) Epigenetic mechanisms in memory formation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 6:108–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, A. A. & Feldman, M. (2004) Genetic and epigenetic reprogramming of the wheat genome upon allopolyploidization. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 82:607–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mousseau, T. A. & Fox, C. W. (1998) Maternal effects as adaptations. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nance, W. E. & Kearsey, M. J. (2004) Relevance of connexin deafness (DFNB1) to human evolution. American Journal of Human Genetics 74:1081–87.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odling Smee, F.J., Laland, K. N. & Feldman, M. W. (2003) Niche construction: The neglected process in evolution. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Oyama, S. (1985) The ontogeny of information: Developmental systems and evolution. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pearson, H. (2006) What is a gene? Nature 441:398–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pembrey, M. E., Bygren, L. O., Kaati, G., Edvinsson, S., Northstone, K., Sjöström, M., Golding, J. & the ALSPAC study team (2006) Sex-specific, male-line transgenerational responses in humans. European Journal of Human Genetics 14:159–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rapp, R. A. & Wendel, J. F. (2005) Epigenetics and plant evolution. New Phytologist 168:81–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reader, S. M. & Laland, K. N. (2003) Animal innovation. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rendell, L. & Whitehead, H. (2001) Culture in whales and dolphins. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24:309–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richerson, P. J. & Boyd, R. (2005) Not by genes alone: How culture transforms human evolution. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Shapiro, J. A. (1999) Genome system architecture and natural genetic engineering in evolution. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 870:23–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sterelny, K. (2004) Symbiosis, evolvability and modularity. In: Modularity in development and evolution, ed. Schlosser, G. & Wagner, G., pp. 490–516. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Turner, J. S. (2000) The extended organism: The physiology of animal-built structures. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Waddington, C. H. (1975) The evolution of an evolutionist. Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
West-Eberhard, M. J. (2003) Developmental plasticity and evolution. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiten, A., Horner, V. & de Waal, F. B. M. (2005) Conformity to cultural norms of tool use in chimpanzees. Nature 437:737–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed