Ontogeny and Phylogeny

“Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” was Haeckel’s answer—the wrong one—to the most vexing question of nineteenth-century biology: what is the relationship between individual development (ontogeny) and the evolution of species and lineages (phylogeny)? In this, the first major book on the subject in fifty years, Stephen Jay Gould documents the history of the idea of recapitulation from its first appearance among the pre-Socratics to its fall in the early twentieth century. Mr. Gould explores recapitulation as an idea that intrigued politicians and theologians as well as scientists. He shows that Haeckel’s hypothesis—that human fetuses with gill slits are, literally, tiny fish, exact replicas of their water-breathing ancestors—had an influence that extended beyond biology into education, criminology, psychoanalysis (Freud and Jung were devout recapitulationists), and racism. The theory of recapitulation, Gould argues, finally collapsed not from the weight of contrary data, but because the rise of Mendelian genetics rendered it untenable. Turning to modern concepts, Gould demonstrates that, even though the whole subject of parallels between ontogeny and phylogeny fell into disrepute, it is still one of the great themes of evolutionary biology. Heterochrony—changes in developmental timing, producing parallels between ontogeny and phylogeny—is shown to be crucial to an understanding of gene regulation, the key to any rapprochement between molecular and evolutionary biology. Gould argues that the primary evolutionary value of heterochrony may lie in immediate ecological advantages for slow or rapid maturation, rather than in long-term changes of form, as all previous theories proclaimed. Neoteny—the opposite of recapitulation—is shown to be the most important determinant of human evolution. We have evolved by retaining the juvenile characters of our ancestors and have achieved both behavioral flexibility and our characteristic morphology thereby (large brains by prolonged retention of rapid fetal growth rates, for example). Gould concludes that “there may be nothing new under the sun, but permutation of the old within complex systems can do wonders. As biologists, we deal directly with the kind of material complexity that confers an unbounded potential upon simple, continuous changes in underlying processes. This is the chief joy of our science.” 1. Prospectus Part I: Recapitulation 2. The Analogistic Tradition from Anaximander to Bonnet The Seeds of Recapitulation in Greek Science? Ontogeny and Phylogeny in the Conflict of “Evolution” and Epigenesis: The Idyll of Charles Bonnet Appendix: The Revolution in “Evolution” 3. Transcendental Origins, 1793–1860 Naturphilosophie: An Expression of Developmentalism Two Leading Recapitulationists among the Naturphilosophen: Oken and Meckel Oken’s Classification of Animals Linear Additions of Organs J. F. Meckel’s Sober Statement of the Same Principles Serres and the French Transcendentalists Recapitulation and the Theory of Developmental Arrests Von Baer’s Critique of Recapitulation The Direction of Development and Classification of Animals Von Baer and Naturphilosophie: What Is the Universal Direction of Development? Louis Agassiz and the Threefold Parallelism 4. Evolutionary Triumph, 1859–1900 Evolutionary Theory and Zoological Practice Darwin and the Evolution of Von Baer’ Laws Evolution and the Mechanics of Recapitulation Ernst Haeckel: Phylogeny as the Mechanical Cause of Ontogeny The Mechanism of Recapitulation The American Neo-Lamarckians: The Law of Acceleration as Evolution’s Motor Progressive Evolution by Acceleration The Extent of Parallelism Why Does Recapitulation Dominate the History of Life? Alpheus Hyatt and Universal Acceleration Lamarckism and the Memory Analogy Recapitulation and Darwinism Appendix: The Evolutionary Translation of von Baer’s Laws 5. Pervasive Influence Criminal Anthropology Racism Child Development Primary Education Freudian Psychoanalysis Epilogue 6. Decline, Fall, and Generalization A Clever Argument An Empirical Critique Organs or Ancestors: The Transformation of Haeckel’s Heterochrony Interpolations into Juvenile Stages Introduction of Juvenile Features into the Adults of Descendants What Had Become of von Baer’s Critique? Benign Neglect: Recapitulation and the Rise of Experimental Embryology The Prior Assumptions of Recapitulation Wilhelm His and His Physiological Embryology: A Preliminary Skirmish Roux’s Entwicklungsmechanik and the Biogenetic Low Recapitulation and Substantive Issues in Experimental Embryology: The New Preformationism Mendel’s Resurrection, Haeckel’s Fall, and the Generalization of Recapitulation Part II: Heterocrony and Paedomorphosis 7. Heterochrony and the Parallel of Ontogeny and Phylogeny Acceleration and Retardation Confusion in and after Haeckel’s Wake Guidelines for a Resolution The Reduction of de Beer’s Categories of Heterochrony to Acceleration and Retardation A Historical Paradox: The Supposed Dominance of Recapitulation Dissociability and Heterochrony Correlation and Disociability Dissociation of the Three Processes A Metric for Dissociation Temporal Shift as a Mechanism of Dissociation A Clock Model of Heterochrony Appendix: A Note on the Multivariate Representation of Dissociation 8. The Ecological and Evolutionary Significance of Heterochrony The Argument from Frequency The Importance of Recapitulation The Importance of Heterochronic Change: Selected Cases Frequency of Paedomorphosis in the Origin of Higher Taxa A Critique of the Classical Significance of Heterochrony The Classical Arguments Retrospective and Immediate Significance Heterochrony, Ecology, and Life-History Strategies The Potential Ease and Rapidity of Heterochronic Change The Control of Metamorphosis in Insects Amphibian Paedomorphosis and the Thyroid Gland 9. Progenesis and Neoteny Insect Progenesis Prothetely and Metathetely Paedogenesis (Parthenogenetic Progenesis) in Gall Midges and Beetles Progenesis in Wingless, Parthenogenetic Aphids Additional Cases of Progenesis with a Similar Ecological Basis Neotenic Solitary Locusts: Are They an Exception to the Rule? Amphibian Neoteny The Ecological Determinants of Progenesis Unstable Environments Colonization Parasites Male Dispersal Progenesis as an Adaptive Response to Pressures for Small Size The Role of Heterochrony in Macroevolution: Contrasting Flexibilities for Progenesis and Neoteny Progenesis Neoteny The Social Correlates of Neoteny in Higher Vertebrates 10. Retardation and Neoteny in Human Evolution The Seeds of Neoteny The Fetalization Theory of Louis Bolk Bolk’s Data Bolk’s Interpretation Bolk’s Evolutionary Theory A Tradition of Argument Retardation in Human Evolution Morphology in the Matrix of Retardation Of Enumeration Of Prototypes Of Correlation The Adaptive Significance of Retarded Development 11. Epilogue Notes Bibliography Glossary Index Recapitulation -- The Analogistic Tradition From Anaximander To Bonnet -- Transcendental Origins, 1793-1860 -- Evolutionary Triumph, 1859-1900 -- Pervasive Influence -- Decline, Fall, And Generalization -- Heterochrony And Paedomorphosis -- Heterochrony And The Parallel Of Ontogeny And Phylogeny -- The Ecological And Evolutionary Significance Of Heterochrony -- Progenesis And Neoteny -- Retardation And Neoteny In Human Evolution -- Epilogue. Stephen Jay Gould. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 441-477. “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” was Haeckel’s answer to 19th-century biology’s most vexing question: what is the relationship between individual development and the evolution of species and lineages? Gould documents the history of the idea of recapitulation from its first appearance among the pre-Socratics to its fall in the early 20th century.