Abstract

CAPONI, GUSTAVO. Evo-devo as Historical Science of Ultimates Causes. Acta biol.Colomb. [online]. 2009, vol.14, suppl.1, pp.133-150. ISSN 0120-548X.

Having as starting point that a proximal cause is one whose effects can be registered in the states of an individual organism, in this work I will argue that what defines an ultimate cause is the fact that its effects can be registered in the evolution of lineages, and not simply in population states. This, on the other hand, not only will allow us to clarify how the developmental constraints can be understood as causes of the evolutionary phenomena; but also it will allow us to point the eminently historical character of Developmental Evolutionary Biology that Wallace Arthur undermined in Biased Embryos and Evolution. Thus, and following this latter reasoning, I will also try to show that, although the action of developmental constraints could happen beyond the limits of a population or a particular species, does not imply that we are facing the return of typological thought in Evolutionary Biology.

Keywords : evolutionary developmental biology; typological thought; ultimate causes.

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