Fossil Horses, Orthogenesis, and Communicating Evolution in Museums |
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Authors: | Bruce J MacFadden Luz Helena Oviedo Grace M Seymour Shari Ellis |
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Institution: | (1) Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA;(2) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA |
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Abstract: | The 55-million-year fossil record of horses (Family Equidae) has been frequently cited as a prime example of long-term macroevolution.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, natural history museum exhibits characteristically depicted fossil horses to
be a single, straight-line (orthogenetic) progression from ancestor to descendent. By the beginning of the twentieth century,
however, paleontologists realized that, rather than representing orthogenesis, the evolutionary pattern of fossil horses was
more correctly characterized by a complexly branching phylogenetic tree. We conducted a systematic survey of 20 fossil horse
exhibits from natural history museums in the United States. Our resulting data indicate that more than half (55%) of natural
history museums today still depict horse evolution as orthogenetic, despite the fact that paleontologists have known for a
century that the actual evolutionary pattern of the Family Equidae is branching. Depicting outmoded evolutionary patterns
and concepts via museum exhibits, such as fossils horses exemplifying orthogenesis, not only communicates outmoded knowledge
but also likely contributes to general misconceptions about evolution for natural history museum visitors. |
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