Abstract
Debates over the status of the tree of life (TOL) often proceed without agreement as to what it is supposed to be: a hierarchical classification scheme, a tracing of genomic and organismal history or a hypothesis about evolutionary processes and the patterns they can generate. I will argue that for Darwin it was a hypothesis, which lateral gene transfer in prokaryotes now shows to be false. I will propose a more general and relaxed evolutionary theory and point out why anti-evolutionists should take no comfort from disproof of the TOL hypothesis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2221-2228 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
| Volume | 364 |
| Issue number | 1527 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 12 2009 |
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
- General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
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Ford Doolittle, W. (2009). The practice of classification and the theory of evolution, and what the demise of Charles Darwin's tree of life hypothesis means for both of them. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1527), 2221-2228. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0032