Hey,

If you're here, it either means you are really interested in learning more or you just wanna fact check something I said. If you're a fact-checker feel free to scroll down to the References section, everything should be in as close to chronological order as possible. If you just want to learn about adaptationism then keep reading!

There are a few key pieces of literature to start you off on this journey to learn more. I'd suggest starting with the Spandrels paper actually. Even if you've never really read a paper before, Gould writes relatively clearly. Note: Lewontin mentioned later on that it was Gould who did most of the heavy lifting on the paper lol, so I presume he wrote it.

If you need access to any of the links below, try going through your local libraries or if you're a uni student you can use your uni login. Else you can cheekily use a friend's login if they let you or there are ... other ways. If you really get stuck feel free to email me at jake@subanima.org and I'd be more than happy to help you out.

The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme on JSTOR
An adaptationist programme has dominated evolutionary thought in England and the United States during the past 40 years. It is based on faith in the power of na...

From there, I'd make sure you're familiar with the concepts of genetic drift, developmental constraints and spandrels. I'd just read the wikipedia articles on all of them to get roughly familiar. That should set you up for better understanding some of the alternatives to adaptationism. This Quanta article also had a nice thing on genetic drift.

https://www.quantamagazine.org/neutral-theory-of-evolution-challenged-by-evidence-for-dna-selection-20181108/

You can now jump into the more philosophical papers/articles. The Stanford Encyclopedia entry is always a niceish entry and Kane B also has a really nicely done series of two videos:

Adaptationism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

If you've gotten this far, you're probably ready for the heavy duty stuff then. I think Peter Godfrey-Smith's perspective of adaptationism is probably the most well accepted view among biologists. His writing is very easy to understand and if you can make your way through these two you will have a very good picture of how adaptationism sits in the field today:

https://petergodfreysmith.com/PGS-Adapt3.pdf

https://petergodfreysmith.com/PGS_Wilkins_Adaptive_Landscape_2009.pdf

And to not be too biased I should give some articles defending adaptationism and adaptive storytelling. The go-to hard core adaptationists are Dawkins and Dennett who I think hold on to natural selection tightly so that they can yell at creationists more, but that's kind of how they roll.

Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Simon and Schuster.

Dawkins, R. (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. Norton.

Also story-telling doesn't always have to be bad:

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/14627/1/Story-telling.pdf

I think I'll make a full video on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis in the future, but if you'd like to read up for now here's a few links:

Extended Evolutionary Synthesis – An integrative research program
Extended evolutionary synthesis - Wikipedia

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerd-Mueller-4/publication/258235989_Elements_of_an_Extended_Evolutionary_Synthesis/links/0f31753a54d20a66c4000000/Elements-of-an-Extended-Evolutionary-Synthesis.pdf

Also once you start to notice naïve storytelling, you see it EVERYWHERE

I'm trying to compile a list of human behaviors and characteristics that can be explained by our evolution. from evolution

At least Hank is very very aware of the fact that alligators may not wear stick hats for any reason at all :)

@hankgreen1

The wining fact on this week’s episode of SciShow Tangents, available wherever you get podcasts!

♬ original sound - Hank Green

And finally on the role of random chance in evolution:

Sean also has a book with the same title (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

References

Why do we have chins?

Pampush, J. D., & Daegling, D. J. (2016). The enduring puzzle of the human chin. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 25(1), 20-35.

The enduring puzzle of the human chin
Although modern humans are considered to be morphologically distinct from other living primates because of our large brains, dexterous hands, and bipedal gait, all of these features are found among e...

Holton, N. E., Bonner, L. L., Scott, J. E., Marshall, S. D., Franciscus, R. G., & Southard, T. E. (2015). The ontogeny of the chin: an analysis of allometric and biomechanical scaling. Journal of Anatomy, 226(6), 549-559.

The ontogeny of the chin: an analysis of allometric and biomechanical scaling
The presence of a prominent chin in modern humans has been viewed by some researchers as an architectural adaptation to buttress the anterior corpus from bending stresses during mastication. In contr...

Chin animals haha, you can actually buy them:

Panda’s Ana Shakurel Planet 3 Capsule Toys (All 6 Types)
Panda’s Ana Shakurel Planet 3 Capsule Toys (All 6 Types) - Cute animals with giant chins? Yes, please! The Panda’s Ana Shakurel Planet 3 Capsule Toys let you enjoy the full range (all six types) of these amazingly original and cute gacha toys (you can find them in capsule machines in Japan) without…

Dawkins and Dennett as adaptationists:

Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Simon and Schuster.

Dawkins, R. (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. Norton.

Godfrey-Smith, P. (2001). Three kinds of adaptationism. Adaptationism and optimality, 122. https://petergodfreysmith.com/PGS-Adapt3.pdf


History of adaptationism in biology

Orzack, S. H., & Forber, P. (2010). Adaptationism.

Adaptationism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Frank, S. A. (2012). Wright’s adaptive landscape versus Fisher’s fundamental theorem. In Svensson, E., & Calsbeek, R. (Eds.), The adaptive landscape in evolutionary biology (pp. 41-57). OUP Oxford.

Wright’s adaptive landscape versus Fisher’s fundamental theorem
Two giants of evolutionary theory, Sewall Wright and R. A. Fisher, foughtbitterly for over thirty years. The Wright-Fisher controversy forms acornerstone of the history and philosophy of biology. I argue that the standardinterpretations of the Wright-Fisher controversy do not accurately represent…

Pigliucci, M., & Kaplan, J. (2000). The fall and rise of Dr Pangloss: adaptationism and the Spandrels paper 20 years later. Trends in ecology & evolution, 15(2), 66-70.

https://philpapers.org/archive/PIGTFA.pdf

Rose, M. R., & Lauder, G. V. (1996). Post-spandrel adaptationism. In Rose, M. R., & Lauder, G. V. (Eds.), Adaptation (pp. 1-8). Academic Press.

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~glauder/reprints_unzipped/Post-Spandrel%20Adaptationism.pdf


Kimura's Neutral Theory

Kimura, M. (1983). The neutral theory of molecular evolution. Cambridge University Press.

Duret, L. (2008) Neutral theory: The null hypothesis of molecular evolution. Nature Education1(1):218

Neutral Theory: The Null Hypothesis of Molecular Evolution | Learn Science at Scitable
In the decades since its introduction, the neutral theory of evolution has become central to the study of evolution at the molecular level, in part because it provides a way to make strong predictions that can be tested against actual data. The neutral theory holds that most variation at the molecul…
Neutral theory of molecular evolution - Wikipedia

Junk DNA

Graur, D. (2017). An upper limit on the functional fraction of the human genome. Genome biology and evolution, 9(7), 1880-1885.

Upper Limit on the Functional Fraction of the Human Genome
Abstract. For the human population to maintain a constant size from generation to generation, an increase in fertility must compensate for the reduction in the

Graur, D., Zheng, Y., Price, N., Azevedo, R. B., Zufall, R. A., & Elhaik, E. (2013). On the immortality of television sets:“function” in the human genome according to the evolution-free gospel of ENCODE. Genome biology and evolution, 5(3), 578-590.

Upper Limit on the Functional Fraction of the Human Genome
Abstract. For the human population to maintain a constant size from generation to generation, an increase in fertility must compensate for the reduction in the

Neutral theory debate

Kern, A. D., & Hahn, M. W. (2018). The neutral theory in light of natural selection. Molecular biology and evolution, 35(6), 1366-1371.

Neutral Theory in Light of Natural Selection
Abstract. In this perspective, we evaluate the explanatory power of the neutral theory of molecular evolution, 50 years after its introduction by Kimura. We arg

Hahn, M. W. (2008). Toward a selection theory of molecular evolution. Evolution, 255-265.

Toward a Selection Theory of Molecular Evolution on JSTOR
Matthew W. Hahn, Toward a Selection Theory of Molecular Evolution, Evolution, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Feb., 2008), pp. 255-265

Jensen, J. D., Payseur, B. A., Stephan, W., Aquadro, C. F., Lynch, M., Charlesworth, D., & Charlesworth, B. (2019). The importance of the neutral theory in 1968 and 50 years on: a response to Kern and Hahn 2018. Evolution, 73(1), 111-114.

The importance of the Neutral Theory in 1968 and 50 years on: A response to Kern and Hahn 2018
A recent article reassessing the Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution claims that it is no longer as important as is widely believed. The authors argue that “the neutral theory was supported by unre...

Moinet, A., Excoffier, L., & Peischl, S. (2021). Strong neutral sweeps occurring during a population contraction. bioRxiv.

Strong neutral sweeps occurring during a population contraction
A strong reduction in diversity around a specific locus is often interpreted as a recent rapid fixation of a positively selected allele, a phenomenon called a selective sweep. Rapid fixation of neutral variants can however lead to similar reduction in local diversity, especially when the population…

Spandrels

Gould, S. J., & Lewontin, R. C. (1979). The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme. Proceedings of the royal society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences, 205(1161), 581-598.

The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme on JSTOR
An adaptationist programme has dominated evolutionary thought in England and the United States during the past 40 years. It is based on faith in the power of na...

Leibnizian Optimism

Best of all possible worlds - Wikipedia

Candide

Voltaire, F. (1759). Candide. Cramer, Marc-Michel Rey, Jean Nourse, Lambert, and others.

http://www.esp.org/books/voltaire/candide.pdf

Jump to 16:10 for the scene I showed:


Biologists have moved past adaptive storytelling

Wilkins, J. F., & Godfrey-Smith, P. (2009). Adaptationism and the adaptive landscape. Biology & Philosophy, 24(2), 199-214. https://petergodfreysmith.com/PGS_Wilkins_Adaptive_Landscape_2009.pdf


The Panda's Thumb

Davis, D. D. (1964). The giant panda: a morphological study of evolutionary mechanisms. Chicago Natural History Museum.

Evolution: The Panda’s Thumb [Athro, Limited: Biology]
One of the classic stories of evolution is the riddle of the giant panda’s thumb

Gould, S. J. (1980). The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History. Norton.

The Panda’s Thumb (book) - Wikipedia

The Adaptationism Project

Orzack, S. H., & Sober, E. (1996). How to formulate and test adaptationism. The American Naturalist, 148(1), 202-210.

How to Formulate and Test Adaptationism on JSTOR
Steven Hecht Orzack, Elliot Sober, How to Formulate and Test Adaptationism, The American Naturalist, Vol. 148, No. 1 (Jul., 1996), pp. 202-210

Orzack, S. H., & Sober, E. (1994). Optimality models and the test of adaptationism. The American Naturalist, 143(3), 361-380.

Optimality Models and the Test of Adaptationism on JSTOR
The use of optimality models in the investigation of adaptation remains controversial. Critics charge that advocates of the optimality approach assume that the ...

Lewontin on a new framework beyond adaptationism

Lewontin, R. C. (1983). The organism as the subject and object of evolution. Scientia, 77(18).

http://sesultan.web.wesleyan.edu/pdfs/lewontin_organism_as_subject.pdf

Godfrey-Smith, P. (1999). Adaptationism and the power of selection. Biology and Philosophy, 14(2), 181-194.

http://mechanism.ucsd.edu/~bill/teaching/philbiology/readings/godfrey-smith.adaptationandpowerofselection.1999.pdf


The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis

Niche construction

Fábregas-Tejeda, A., & Vergara-Silva, F. (2018). The emerging structure of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis: where does Evo-Devo fit in?. Theory in Biosciences, 137(2), 169-184.

https://philarchive.org/archive/FBRTES

Pigliucci, M., & Müller, G. B. (2010). Elements of an extended evolutionary synthesis. Evolution: The extended synthesis, 3-17.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerd-Mueller-4/publication/258235989_Elements_of_an_Extended_Evolutionary_Synthesis/links/0f31753a54d20a66c4000000/Elements-of-an-Extended-Evolutionary-Synthesis.pdf


Pictures

Pied Kiwi / CC BY-SA 3.0
Nobu Tamura / CC BY 2.5
Nobu Tamura / CC BY 2.5
Nobu Tamura / CC BY 2.5
Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) / CC BY 2.5
Alglascock / CC BY-SA 3.0