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Species, Species Concepts and Primate Evolution pp 461–484Cite as

The Importance of Species Taxa in Paleoanthropology and an Argument for the Phylogenetic Concept of the Species Category

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Part of the book series: Advances in Primatology ((AIPR))

Abstract

Paleoanthropology attempts to describe the diversity of extinct primate forms, to interpret this diversity in a phylogenetic framework based on the distribution of shared evolutionary novelties, and to explain the emergence and transformation of novelties in terms of a positive causal relationship between changes in structure/function and enhanced organismal fitness (i.e., adaptation). These components may be viewed as a sequence of steps toward a “complete” explanation of evolutionary change, each step logically contingent on those preceding it. Thus, hypotheses seeking to explain the adaptive basis of evolutionary morphological change necessarily depend on the prior acceptance of a hypothesis of vectored phylogenetic change. In turn, a phylogenetic hypothesis must be grounded in some theoretical concept of the units of diversity, among which the pattern of phylogenetic relationships is sought.

Assuming for the moment that history could be analyzed completely into a single set of atomistic elements, there are infinitely many ways these elements can be organized into historical sequences. The role of the central subject is to form the main strand around which the historical narrative is woven... The important feature of central subjects is that from the point of view of the historical narrative associated with them, they are individuals. The identity and continuity of such individuals can be and must be determined independently of the events that make up the narrative.

David Hull (1975, p. 255)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley, California, 94709, USA

    William H. Kimbel & Yoel Rak

  2. Department of Anatomy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Yoel Rak

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  1. William H. Kimbel
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley, California, USA

    William H. Kimbel

  2. State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Lawrence B. Martin

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Kimbel, W.H., Rak, Y. (1993). The Importance of Species Taxa in Paleoanthropology and an Argument for the Phylogenetic Concept of the Species Category. In: Kimbel, W.H., Martin, L.B. (eds) Species, Species Concepts and Primate Evolution. Advances in Primatology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3745-2_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3745-2_18

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