The overextended phenotype

In a potentially influential article, Whitham et al. (2003) adopted the concept of the extended phenotype (Dawkins, 1982) to suggest a novel perspective on community genetics and evolution. Their purpose was to examine "how the extended phenotypes of genes have important consequences at communi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Écoscience (Sainte-Foy) 2005-01, Vol.12 (1), p.3-4
Main Authors: BIERNASKIE, Jay M., TYERMAN, Jabus G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal genetics
Ecological genetics
Ecosystems
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
FORUM
Natural selection
Phenotypes
Plant growth
Riparian ecology
Synecology
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In a potentially influential article, Whitham et al. (2003) adopted the concept of the extended phenotype (Dawkins, 1982) to suggest a novel perspective on community genetics and evolution. Their purpose was to examine "how the extended phenotypes of genes have important consequences at community and ecosystem levels", keeping in mind "the ultimate consequence of heritable extended phenotypes" (p. 560): community evolution by natural selection. We take issue with two aspects of the interpretation of extended phenotypes (EPs) given by Whitham et al. (2003) and adopted elsewhere in the emerging literature of community and ecosystem genetics (references below). First, we clarify that the functional concept of the EP (sensu Dawkins, 1982) is, in an important sense, more precise than employed by recent authors. Second, natural selection of so-called `extended phenotypes' involves an unlikely mechanism of selection and instead implies the existence of adaptive `community phenotypes'.
ISSN:1195-6860