Book contents
- Ancestors in Evolutionary Biology
- The Systematics Association Special Volume Series
- Ancestors in Evolutionary Biology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 A History of Narrative Phylogenetics
- 2 From Archetypes to Ancestors
- 3 The Emergence of Lineage Thinking
- 4 Ernst Haeckel’s Evolutionary Storytelling
- 5 The Epistemic Rise of Hypothetical Ancestors
- 6 Intuiting Evolution
- 7 Telling Straight Stories with Fossils
- 8 Seeing Animal Ancestors in Embryos
- 9 Ancestral Attractions and Phylogenetic Folklore
- 10 Narrative Shortcuts and Phylogenetic Faux Pas
- 11 Taxic Distortions of Lineage Thinking
- 12 Making Sense with Stories
- References
- Index
- Systematics Association Special Volumes
12 - Making Sense with Stories
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2022
- Ancestors in Evolutionary Biology
- The Systematics Association Special Volume Series
- Ancestors in Evolutionary Biology
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 A History of Narrative Phylogenetics
- 2 From Archetypes to Ancestors
- 3 The Emergence of Lineage Thinking
- 4 Ernst Haeckel’s Evolutionary Storytelling
- 5 The Epistemic Rise of Hypothetical Ancestors
- 6 Intuiting Evolution
- 7 Telling Straight Stories with Fossils
- 8 Seeing Animal Ancestors in Embryos
- 9 Ancestral Attractions and Phylogenetic Folklore
- 10 Narrative Shortcuts and Phylogenetic Faux Pas
- 11 Taxic Distortions of Lineage Thinking
- 12 Making Sense with Stories
- References
- Index
- Systematics Association Special Volumes
Summary
Finally, in this chapter I offer a concluding meditation on the undiminished value, indeed the necessity, of evolutionary storytelling, if our goal is to go beyond the trees and try to understand what may have happened along life’s myriad evolving lineages. As soon as one looks at a tree and asks ‘what does this mean?’, one becomes an evolutionary storyteller. Some dismiss such stories as pure fiction, and would prefer not to go beyond the tree. But for those of us who wish to peer over the phylogenetic frontier, these stories are how we generate our understanding of evolution, or at least how we try to.
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- Ancestors in Evolutionary BiologyLinear Thinking about Branching Trees, pp. 327 - 335Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022