The practice of classification and the theory of evolution,and what the demise of Charles Darwin's tree of life hypothesis means for both of them |
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Authors: | W. Ford Doolittle |
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Affiliation: | Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
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Abstract: | Debates over the status of the tree of life (TOL) often proceed without agreement as to what it is supposed to be: a hierarchical classification scheme, a tracing of genomic and organismal history or a hypothesis about evolutionary processes and the patterns they can generate. I will argue that for Darwin it was a hypothesis, which lateral gene transfer in prokaryotes now shows to be false. I will propose a more general and relaxed evolutionary theory and point out why anti-evolutionists should take no comfort from disproof of the TOL hypothesis. |
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Keywords: | tree of life lateral gene transfer horizontal gene transfer prokaryote genome evolution phylogenetics |
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