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Nathalie Gontier
  • Universidade de Lisboa
    Faculdade de Ciências,
    Centro de Philosophia da Ciências,
    Campo Grande,
    Lisboa, PT

Nathalie Gontier

Universidade de Lisboa, Centro de Filosofia das Ciências, Department Member
Books
Reticulate Evolution: Symbiogenesis, Lateral Gene Transfer, Hybridization and Infectious Hereditymore
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Written for non-experts, this volume introduces the mechanisms that underlie reticulate evolution. Chapters are either accompanied with glossaries that explain new terminology or timelines that position pioneering scholars and their major... more
Written for non-experts, this volume introduces the mechanisms that underlie reticulate evolution. Chapters are either accompanied with glossaries that explain new terminology or timelines that position pioneering scholars and their major discoveries in their historical contexts. The contributing authors outline the history and original context of discovery of symbiosis, symbiogenesis, lateral gene transfer, hybridization or divergence with gene flow and infectious heredity. By applying key insights from the areas of molecular (phylo)genetics, microbiology, virology, ecology, systematics, immunology, epidemiology and computational science, they demonstrate how reticulate evolution impacts successful survival, fitness and speciation.
Reticulate evolution brings forth a challenge to the standard Neo-Darwinian framework, which defines life as the outcome of bifurcation and ramification patterns brought forth by the vertical mechanism of natural selection. Reticulate evolution puts forward a pattern in the tree of life that is characterized by horizontal mergings and lineage crossings induced by symbiosis, symbiogenesis, lateral gene transfer, hybridization or divergence with gene flow and infective heredity, making the “tree of life” look more like a “web of life.” On an epistemological level, the various means by which hereditary material can be transferred horizontally challenges our classic notions of units and levels of evolution, fitness, modes of transmission, linearity, communities and biological individuality.
The case studies presented examine topics including the origin of the eukaryotic cell and its organelles through symbiogenesis; the origin of algae through primary and secondary symbiosis and dinoflagellates through tertiary symbiosis; the superorganism and holobiont as units of evolution; how endosymbiosis induces speciation in multicellular life forms; transferrable and non-transferrable plasmids and how they symbiotically interact with their host; the means by which pro- and eukaryotic organisms transfer genes laterally (bacterial transformation, transduction and conjugation as well as transposons and other mobile genetic elements); hybridization and divergence with gene flow in sexually-reproducing individuals; current (human) microbiome and viriome studies that impact our knowledge concerning the evolution of organismal health and acquired immunity; and how symbiosis and symbiogenesis can be modelled in computational evolution.

Contributors
Amanda N. Brothers,  André F. P. Carvalho,  António Manso,  Caetano Souto-Maior,    Douglas Zook,  Élio Sucena,  Francisco Carrapiço,  Francisco Dionisio,  Jennafer A. P. Hamlin,  João Alves Gama,  Laura S. Weyrich,  Luís Correia,    Michael L. Arnold,  Nathalie Gontier,  Noland H. Martin,  Sunni J. Taylor,  Vitor G. Faria,  William C. Summers

More info: https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319163444#aboutBook

You can read the intro here: https://www.academia.edu/14079107/Reticulate_evolution_everywhere
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Macroevolution: Explanation, Interpretation and Evidence.more
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http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/evolutionary+%26+developmental+biology/book/978-3-319-15044-4 This book is divided in two parts, the first of which shows how, beyond paleontology and systematics, macroevolutionary theories apply... more
http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/evolutionary+%26+developmental+biology/book/978-3-319-15044-4

This book is divided in two parts, the first of which shows how, beyond paleontology and systematics, macroevolutionary theories apply key insights from ecology and biogeography, developmental biology, biophysics, molecular phylogenetics, and even the sociocultural sciences to explain evolution in deep time. In the second part, the phenomenon of macroevolution is examined with the help of real life-history case studies on the evolution of eukaryotic sex, the formation of anatomical form and body-plans, extinction and speciation events of marine invertebrates, hominin evolution and species conservation ethics.

The book brings together leading experts, who explain pivotal concepts such as Punctuated Equilibria, Stasis, Developmental Constraints, Adaptive Radiations, Habitat Tracking, Turnovers, (Mass) Extinctions, Species Sorting, Major Transitions, Trends, and Hierarchies – key premises that allow macroevolutionary epistemic frameworks to transcend microevolutionary theories that focus on genetic variation, selection, migration and fitness.

Along the way, the contributing authors review ongoing debates and current scientific challenges; detail new and fascinating scientific tools and techniques that allow us to cross the classic borders between disciplines; demonstrate how their theories make it possible to extend the Modern Synthesis; present guidelines on how the macroevolutionary field could be further developed; and provide a rich view of just how it was that life evolved across time and space. In short, this book is a must-read for active scholars and, because the technical aspects are fully explained, it is also accessible for non-specialists.



Understanding evolution requires a solid grasp of above-population phenomena. Species are real biological individuals, and abiotic factors impact the future course of evolution. Beyond observation, when the explanation of macroevolution is the goal, we need both evidence and theory that enable us to explain and interpret how life evolves at the grand scale.
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The Evolution of Social Communication in Primates: A Multidisciplinary Approach (edited by Marco Pina & Nathalie Gontier)more
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Evolutionary Epistemology, Language and Culture – a Non-Adaptationist Systems Theoretical Approach.more
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More Info: http://bookzz.org/book/773249/7553b0
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Dynamisch Inter(-en trans)disciplinair Taal Onderzoek – De nieuwe taalwetenschappenmore
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More Info: http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=365433
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De oorsprong en evolutie van leven, 15 van het standaardparadigma afwijkende thesenmore
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More Info: http://books.google.be/books?id=z1zJMsqnAR4C&pg=PA96&lpg=PA96&dq=gontier+de+oorsprong+van+level&source=bl&ots=2-W1mULx0J&sig=u2bMekQzQ0md2aGceWVslqWlDXc&hl=nl&ei=w1zsTNCpAcuHhQfY9IHMDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Special Issues for Journals
Special Issue: Language Evolution: Focus on Mechanismsmore
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Website http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03880001/63?sdc=1 Table of Contents Editorial board and publication information The evolution of (proto-)language: Focus on mechanisms Przemyslaw Zywiczynski, Nathalie Gontier,... more
Website
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03880001/63?sdc=1

Table of Contents
Editorial board and publication information

The evolution of (proto-)language: Focus on mechanisms
Przemyslaw Zywiczynski, Nathalie Gontier, Slawomir Wacewicz

What are the levels and mechanisms/processes of language evolution?
Nathalie Gontier

The role of the lie in the evolution of human language
Daniel Dor

Grammaticalization and language evolution: Focusing the debate
Antonio Benítez-Burraco

Protolanguage and mechanisms of meaning construal in interaction
Michael Pleyer

An evolutionary approach to low-level conversational cooperation
Sławomir Wacewicz, Przemysław Żywiczyński, Alessandra Chiera

Mental Time Travel and language evolution: a narrative account of the origins of human communication
F. Ferretti, I. Adornetti, A. Chiera, S. Nicchiarelli, R. Magni, G. Valeri, A. Marini

Language evolution: How language was built and made to evolve
Bernard H. Bichakjian
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Special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for Evolutionary Biologymore
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Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to... more
Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to the authors for contributing, and to Eveline Kolijn for the artistic cover (http://evelinekolijn.com/?project=evolutionary-patterns).

Springer is granting free access to the full issue through December 31st, 2016 at http://link.springer.com/journal/11692/43/4/page/1

Feel free to leave comments on the issue in this session!
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Darwin evaluated by contemporary evolutionary and philosophical theories. Theory in Biosciences 129, (Issues 2-3)more
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Springer Link: http://link.springer.com/journal/12064/129/2/page/1 Editorial: Darwin’s legacy Nathalie Gontier Pages 77-87 https://www.academia.edu/261350/Darwins_legacy Playing Darwin. Part A. Experimental Evolution in... more
Springer Link: http://link.springer.com/journal/12064/129/2/page/1


Editorial: Darwin’s legacy
Nathalie Gontier Pages 77-87
https://www.academia.edu/261350/Darwins_legacy

Playing Darwin. Part A. Experimental Evolution in Drosophila 
Margarida Matos Pages 89-96

Playing Darwin. Part B. 20 years of domestication in Drosophila subobscura 
Marta Santos, Inês Fragata, Josiane Santos, Pedro Simões… Pages 97-102

Punctuated equilibrium in a neontological context
Melanie J. Monroe, Folmer Bokma Pages 103-111

Punctuated equilibrium and species selection: what does it mean for one theory to suggest another?
Derek Turner Pages 113-123

Saltational symbiosis
Jan Sapp Pages 125-133

How symbiogenic is evolution?
Francisco Carrapiço Pages 135-139

What is a species? Essences and generation
John S. Wilkins Pages 141-148

New insights into molecular evolution: prospects from the Barcode of Life Initiative (BOLI)
Filipe O. Costa, Gary R. Carvalho Pages 149-157

Pattern, process and the evolution of meaning: species and units of selection
André Levy Pages 159-166

Evolutionary epistemology as a scientific method: a new look upon the units and levels of evolution debate
Nathalie Gontier Pages 167-182
https://www.academia.edu/261351/Evolutionary_epistemology_as_a_scientific_method_a_new_look_upon_the_units_and_levels_of_evolution_debate

Computational evolution: taking liberties
Luís Correia Pages 183-191

Human evolution and cognition
Ian Tattersall Pages 193-201

Grammatical equivalents of Palaeolithic tools: a hypothesis
Antonio B. Vieira Pages 203-210

Sensory exploitation and cultural transmission: the late emergence of iconic representations in human evolution
Jan Verpooten, Mark Nelissen Pages 211-221

Language trees ≠ gene trees
James Steele, Anne Kandler Pages 223-233

Taking evolution seriously in political science
Orion Lewis, Sven Steinmo Pages 235-245
Publication Date: 2010
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Papers
The Plurality of Evolutionary Worldviewsmore
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Evolutionary biologists, evolutionary epistemologists, and biosemioticians have demonstrated that organisms not merely adapt to an external world, but that they actively construct their environmental, sociocultural, and cognitive niches.... more
Evolutionary biologists, evolutionary epistemologists, and biosemioticians have demonstrated that organisms not merely adapt to an external world, but that they actively construct their environmental, sociocultural, and cognitive niches. Denis Noble demonstrates that such is no different for those organisms that engage in science, and he lays bare several crucial assumptions that define the scientific dogmas and practices of evolutionary biology.
Doi: 10.1007/s12304-021-09410-6
Publication Name: Biosemiotics
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Non-genetic inheritance: Evolution above the organismal levelmore
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The article proposes to further develop the ideas of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis by including into evolutionary research an analysis of phenomena that occur above the organismal level. We demonstrate that the current Extended... more
The article proposes to further develop the ideas of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis by including into evolutionary research an analysis of phenomena that occur above the organismal level. We demonstrate that the current Extended Synthesis is focused more on individual traits (genetically or non-genetically inherited) and less on community system traits (synergetic/organizational traits) that characterize transgenerational biological, ecological, social, and cultural systems. In this regard, we will consider various communities that are made up of interacting populations, and for which the individual members can belong to the same or to different species. Examples of communities include biofilms, ant colonies, symbiotic associations resulting in holobiont formation, and human societies. The proposed model of evolution at the level of communities revises classic theorizing on the major transitions in evolution by analyzing the interplay between community/social traits and individual traits, and how this brings forth ideas of top-down regulations of bottom-up evolutionary processes (collabo-ration of downward and upward causation). The work demonstrates that such interplay also includes reticulate interactions and reticulate causation. In this regard, we exemplify how community systems provide various non-genetic 'scaffoldings', 'constraints', and 'affordances' for individual and sociocultural evolutionary development. Such research complements prevailing models that focus on the vertical transmission of heritable information , from parent to offspring, with research that instead focusses on horizontal, oblique and even reverse information transmission, going from offspring to parent. We call this reversed information transfer the 'offspring effect' to contrast it from the 'parental effect'. We argue that the proposed approach to inheritance is effective for modelling cumulative and distributed developmental process and for explaining the biological origins and evolution of language.
Doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2020.104325
Publication Date: 2021
Publication Name: Biosystems
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Psychic Unitymore
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Synonyms Cognitive universals; Human nature; Human universals Definition The “psychic unity” idea denotes the existence of a set of psychological and cognitive capacities universally shared by human beings and grounded in biological... more
Synonyms
Cognitive universals; Human nature; Human universals
Definition
The “psychic unity” idea denotes the existence of a set of psychological and cognitive capacities universally shared by human beings and grounded in biological equality.
Doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2798-1
Publication Date: 2020
Publication Name: Facoetti M., Gontier N. Psychic Unity. In: Shackelford T., Weekes-Shackelford V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham
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Testing the "(Neo-)Darwinian" Principles against Reticulate Evolution: How Variation, Adaptation, Heredity and Fitness, Constraints and Affordances, Speciation, and Extinction Surpass Organisms and Speciesmore
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Variation, adaptation, heredity and fitness, constraints and affordances, speciation, and extinction form the building blocks of the (Neo-)Darwinian research program, and several of these have been called "Darwinian principles." Here, we... more
Variation, adaptation, heredity and fitness, constraints and affordances, speciation, and extinction form the building blocks of the (Neo-)Darwinian research program, and several of these have been called "Darwinian principles." Here, we suggest that caution should be taken in calling these principles Darwinian because of the important role played by reticulate evolutionary mechanisms and processes in also bringing about these phenomena. Reticulate mechanisms and processes include symbiosis, symbiogenesis, lateral gene transfer, infective heredity mediated by genetic and organismal mobility, and hybridization. Because the "Darwinian principles" are brought about by both vertical and reticulate evolutionary mechanisms and processes, they should be understood as foundational for a more pluralistic theory of evolution, one that surpasses the classic scope of the Modern and the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis. Reticulate evolution moreover demonstrates that what conventional (Neo-)Darwinian theories treat as intra-species features of evolution frequently involve reticulate interactions between organisms from very different taxonomic categories. Variation, adaptation, heredity and fitness, constraints and affordances, speciation, and extinction therefore cannot be understood as "traits" or "properties" of genes, organisms, species, or ecosystems because the phenomena are irreducible to specific units and levels of an evolutionary hierarchy. Instead, these general principles of evolution need to be understood as common goods that come about through interactions between different units and levels of evolutionary hierarchies, and they are exherent rather than inherent properties of individuals.
Doi: 10.3390/info11070352
Publication Name: Information
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Cosmological and phenomenological transitions into how humans conceptualize and experience timemore
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Cosmographies associated with Western cosmologies demonstrate transformations from classic wheels of time and chains of being to scales of nature, chronologies, and pedigrees. Pedigrees in turn are converted into linear timelines,... more
Cosmographies associated with Western cosmologies demonstrate transformations from classic wheels of time and chains of being to scales of nature, chronologies, and pedigrees. Pedigrees in turn are converted into linear timelines, bifurcating trees, and multidirectional networks. These diagrammatical transitions associate with changes in how time is conceptualized – as circular, linear, multilinear, multidirectional, and perhaps as non-existent. This paper focuses on delineating the phenomenologies associated with worldview turnovers. By identifying group-level dynamics, it demonstrates that time phenomenology extends individuals, and it demonstrates that paradigmatic shifts are driven by new observations, new jargon, and the invention of new quantitative methodologies and modelling techniques.
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On How Epistemology and Ontology Converge Through Evolutionmore
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We examine how insights made in socio-anthropological and evolutionary schools of thought necessitate us to reevaluate the classic philosophical distinction between epistemology (knowledge) and ontology (reality). We adopt an applied... more
We examine how insights made in socio-anthropological and evolutionary schools of thought necessitate us to reevaluate the classic philosophical distinction between epistemology (knowledge) and ontology (reality). We adopt an applied evolutionary epistemological stance and demonstrate that both epistemology and ontology evolve. Epistemology is broadened to include all knowledge and information that all life forms evolve, and ontology encompasses all biologically informed realities that life builds. Through processes such as symbiosis and niche construction, organisms acquire and extend information and knowledge into their offspring, onto unrelated organisms, and onto their niches. Life builds biorealities that change over time. Consequently, knowledge and reality are mutable and truth is spatiotemporally bounded. We conclude that the classic distinction between epistemology and ontology has become superfluous and instead, we argue that the evolving knowledge that comes in the form of organisms and their extended niches equals ontological realities.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-72478-2_30
Doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-72478-2_30
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Pattern similarity in biologial, linguistic, and sociocultural evolutionmore
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We investigate how pattern similarity found in biological, linguistic and sociocultural phenomena elucidate how language and culture relate to overall biological evolution. Examples of similar patterns include descent with modification,... more
We investigate how pattern similarity found in biological, linguistic and sociocultural phenomena elucidate how language and culture relate to overall biological evolution. Examples of similar patterns include descent with modification, reticulation, drift, gradualism, punctuated equilibria, cyclicity, and periodicity. Pattern similarity is often explained by assuming that the same evolutionary mechanisms are causally responsible for the patterns. We demonstrate that this argument is not always warranted because similar patterns can be induced by different mechanisms and processes. We investigate the implications this finding has on how we define mechanisms and processes of biological, sociocultural and linguistic evolution.
More Info: n Cuskley, C., Flaherty, M., Little, H., McCrohon, L., Ravignani, A. & Verhoef, T. (Eds.): The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference (EVOLANGXII).
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Acquiring Knowledge on Species-Specific Biorealities: The Applied Evolutionary Epistemological Approachmore
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Evolutionary epistemology is an inter- and transdisciplinary research area that associates both with philosophy of biology and with the evolutionary sciences. It understands knowledge as an evolved phenomenon displayed by all biological... more
Evolutionary epistemology is an inter- and transdisciplinary research area that associates both with philosophy of biology and with the evolutionary sciences. It understands knowledge as an evolved phenomenon displayed by all biological species (Campbell 1974; Wuketits 1989; Bradie 1986; Gontier 2006a). Evolutionary epistemologists investigate how species acquire and transmit information and knowledge about the world, how and to what extent the evolved systems of knowledge of biological species in turn inform us of the ontological state of the universe, and how knowledge itself evolves over the course of evolutionary time.
In this chapter, we outline how, by making use of the evolutionary sciences, evolutionary epistemology diff ers from traditional epistemological fields, and we demonstrate how evolutionary epistemology fi ts into the broader field of philosophy of biology.
Besides by means of natural selection, evolution can occur by a myriad of evolutionary mechanisms and we briefly outline how this plurality results in various evolutionary epistemologies. While early evolutionary epistemologists favored a hypothetical realist position, today scholars favor constructivist approaches to knowledge. Th is means that scholars no longer adhere to the view that organisms re-present an outer world through the process of adaptation, but that organisms actively participate in constructing the world, by building species-specific biorealities. Rather than present an encompassing evolutionary epistemology, in this chapter we provide a research program on how to study these biorealities.
Publication Name: Gontier, N. & Bradie, M. 2018 In: R. Joyce (ed), The Routledge Handbook of Evolution and Philosophy. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Evolution-and-Philosophy/Joyce/p/book/9781138789555
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What are the levels and mechanisms/processes of language evolutionmore
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k e y w o r d s Origin and evolution of language Units and levels of evolution Evolutionary mechanisms Processes Hierarchies Extended Synthesis Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Philosophy of biology a b s t r a c t Modern evolutionary... more
k e y w o r d s Origin and evolution of language Units and levels of evolution Evolutionary mechanisms Processes Hierarchies Extended Synthesis Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Philosophy of biology
a b s t r a c t Modern evolutionary biology is currently characterized by epistemological divergence because, beyond organisms and genes, scholars nowadays investigate a plurality of units of evolution, they recognize multilevel selection, and especially from within the Extended Synthesis, scholars have identified a plurality of evolutionary mechanisms that besides natural selection can explain how the evolution of anatomical form and functional behavior occur. Evolutionary linguists have also implicated a multitude of units, levels and mechanisms involved in (aspects of) language evolution, which has also brought forth epistemological divergence on how language possibly evolved. Here, we examine how a general evolutionary methodology can become abstracted from how biologists study evolution, and how this methodology can become implemented into the field of Evolutionary Linguistics. Applied Evolutionary Epistemology (AEE) involves a systematic search and analysis of the units (that what evolves), levels (loci where evolution takes place), and mechanisms (means whereby evolution occurs) of language evolution, allocating them into ontological hierarchies, and distinguishing them from other kinds of evolution. In this paper in particular, we give an in-depth analysis of how AEE enables an identification, examination, and evaluation of levels and mechanisms of language evolution, and we hone in on how hierarchies and mechanisms of language (evolution) can and have been defined differentially. For an in-depth analysis of units of language evolution, we refer the reader to Gontier (2017) for which this paper functions as a follow-up. Thus, rather than present a specific theory of how language evolved, we present a methodology that enables us to unite existing research programs as well as to develop theories on the subject at hand.
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What are the Units of Language Evolution?more
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Universal Darwinism provides a methodology to study the evolution of anatomical form and sociocultural behavior that centers on defining the units and levels of selection, and it identifies the conditions whereby natural selection... more
Universal Darwinism provides a methodology to study the evolution of anatomical form and sociocultural behavior that centers on defining the units and levels of selection, and it identifies the conditions whereby natural selection operates. In previous work, I have examined how this selection-focused evolutionary epistemology may be universalized to include theories that associate with an extended synthesis. Applied evolutionary epistemology is a metatheoretical framework that understands any and all kinds of evolution as phenomena where units evolve by mechanisms at levels of an ontological hierarchy; and it provides three heuristics to search for these units, levels and mechanisms. The heuristics are applicable to language and sociocultural evolution, and here, we give an in-depth analysis of how the unit-heuristic can be implemented into language origin and evolution studies. The importance of developing hierarchy theories is also more fully explained.
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Time: The Biggest Pattern in Natural History Researchmore
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Guest-Editorial Introduction: Converging Evolutionary Patterns in Life and Culturemore
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Symbiosis, History ofmore
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Gontier, N. (2016) Symbiosis, History of. In: Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. vol. 4, pp.
272–281. Oxford: Academic Press.
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Symbiogenesis, History ofmore
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Gontier, N. (2016) Symbiogenesis, History of. In: Kliman, R.M. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. vol. 4, pp. 261–271. Oxford: Academic Press.
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Historical and Epistemological Perspectives on What Horizontal Gene Transfer Mechanisms Contribute to Our Understanding of Evolutionmore
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Since the 1990s, results coming in from molecular phylogenetics necessitate us to recognize that Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) occurs massively across all three domains of life. Nonetheless, many of the mechanisms whereby genes can... more
Since the 1990s, results coming in from molecular phylogenetics necessitate
us to recognize that Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) occurs massively across all three
domains of life. Nonetheless, many of the mechanisms whereby genes can become
transferred laterally have been known from the early twentieth century onward. The
temporal discrepancy between the first historical observations of the processes, and
the rather recent general acceptance of the documented data, poses an interesting epistemological
conundrum: Why have incoming results on HGT been widely neglected
by the general evolutionary community and what causes for a more favorable reception
today? Five reasons are given: (1) HGT was first observed in the biomedical sciences
and these sciences did not endorse an evolutionary epistemic stance because of
the ontogeny/phylogeny divide adhered to by the founders of the Modern Synthesis.
(2) Those who did entertain an evolutionary outlook associated research on HGT with
a symbiotic epistemic framework. (3) That HGT occurs across all three domains of
life was demonstrated by modern techniques developed in molecular biology, a field
that itself awaits full integration into the general evolutionary synthesis. (4) Molecular
phylogenetic studies of prokaryote evolution were originally associated with exobiology
and abiogenesis, and both fields developed outside the framework provided by the
Modern Synthesis. (5) Because HGT brings forth a pattern of reticulation, it contrasts
the standard idea that evolution occurs solely by natural selection that brings forth
a vertical, bifurcating pattern in the “tree” of life. Divided into two parts, this chapter
first reviews current neo-Darwinian “tree of life” versus reticulate “web of life”
polemics as they have been debated in high-profile academic journals, and secondly,
the historical context of discovery of the various means whereby genes are transferred
laterally is sketched. Along the way, the reader is introduced to how HGT contradicts
some of the basic tenets of the neo-Darwinian paradigm.
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Reticulate evolution everywheremore
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Reticulation is a recurring evolutionary pattern found in phylogenetic reconstructions of life. The pattern results from how species interact and evolve by mechanisms and processes including symbiosis; symbiogenesis; lateral gene... more
Reticulation is a recurring evolutionary pattern found in phylogenetic
reconstructions of life. The pattern results from how species interact and evolve
by mechanisms and processes including symbiosis; symbiogenesis; lateral gene
transfer (that occurs via bacterial conjugation, transformation, transduction, Gene
Transfer Agents, or the movements of transposons, retrotransposons, and other
mobile genetic elements); hybridization or divergence with gene flow; and infectious
heredity (induced either directly by bacteria, bacteriophages, viruses, prions,
protozoa and fungi, or via vectors that transmit these pathogens). Research
on reticulate evolution today takes on inter- and transdisciplinary proportions and
is able to unite distinct research fields ranging from microbiology and molecular
genetics to evolutionary biology and the biomedical sciences.
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Macroevolutionary Issues and Approaches in Evolutionary Biologymore
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Many fields and approaches evidence, quantify, and analyze macroevolution. From biogeography to paleontology, from ecology to phylogenetics, and from biophysics to philosophy of biology, macroevolution elicits definitions and theoretical... more
Many fields and approaches evidence, quantify, and analyze  macroevolution. From biogeography to paleontology, from ecology to phylogenetics, and from biophysics to philosophy of biology, macroevolution elicits definitions and theoretical problems related to concepts such as species, lineage,  ecology, niches, and extinction, which are relevant for general evolutionary biology. Macroevolutionary theories provide new epistemic frameworks to explain evolution in deep time, and macroevolution is also a phenomenon exemplified by  myriads of real life-history case studies. This volume Macroevolution: Interpretation, Evidence and Explanation samples the rich reservoir of macroevolutionary knowledge, and evidences the macroevolutionary phenomenon in various episodes in time.
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Uniting Micro- with Macroevolution into an Extended Synthesis: Reintegrating Life’s Natural History into Evolution Studiesmore
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The Modern Synthesis explains the evolution of life at a mesolevel by identifying phenotype–environmental interactions as the locus of evolution and by identifying natural selection as the means by which evolution occurs. Both micro- and... more
The Modern Synthesis explains the evolution of life at a mesolevel by identifying phenotype–environmental interactions as the locus of evolution and by identifying natural selection as the means by which evolution occurs. Both micro- and macroevolutionary schools of thought are post-synthetic attempts to evolutionize phenomena above and below organisms that have traditionally been conceived as non-living. Microevolutionary thought associates with the study of how genetic selection explains higher-order phenomena such as speciation and extinction, while macroevolutionary research fields understand species and higher taxa as biological individuals and they attribute evolutionary causation to biotic and abiotic factors that transcend genetic selection. The microreductionist and macroholistic research schools are characterized as two distinct epistemic cultures where the former favor mechanical explanations, while the latter favor historical explanations of the evolutionary process by identifying recurring patterns and trends in the evolution of life. I demonstrate that both cultures endorse radically different notions on time and explain how both perspectives can be unified by endorsing epistemic pluralism.
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Studying Social Communication in Primates: From Ethology and Comparative Zoology to Social Primatology, Evolutionary Psychology, and Evolutionary Linguisticsmore
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Evolutionary epistemology as a scientific method: a new look upon the units and levels of evolution debatemore
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Applied Evolutionary Epistemology: A new method to enhance interdisciplinary research between the life and human sciences.more
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More Info: pdf download here: http://kairos.fc.ul.pt/nr%204/Applied%20Evolutionary%20Epistemology.pdf
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Introducing Universal Symbiogenesismore
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More Info: In: O. Pombo et al. (eds.), Special Sciences and the Unity of Science. Series: Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science 24. Dordrecht Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2030-5 6,
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Universal symbiogenesis: a genuine alternative to universal selectionist accountsmore
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Selectionist Approaches in Evolutionary Linguistics: an epistemological analysismore
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Depicting the Tree of Life: the Philosophical and Historical Roots of Evolutionary Tree Diagramsmore
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More Info: to be published in the September 2011 issue of Evolution, Education and Outreach. DOI 10.1007/s12052-011-0355-0
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Darwin's legacymore
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Evolutionary epistemology and the origin and evolution of language – taking symbiogenesis seriouslymore
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More Info: http://uwch-4.humanities.washington.edu/Texts/Philosophy%20Guides,%20Analysis'%20and%20Resources%20(ver.2)/Evolutionary%20Epistemology,%20Language%20and%20Culture%20-%20A%20Non-Adaptationist,%20Systems%20Theoretical%20Approach%20(Theory%20and%20Decision%20Library%20A).pdf
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How to identify the units, levels and mechanisms of language evolutionmore
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Pointing and the Evolution of Language: An Applied Evolutionary Epistemological Approachmore
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Genes, Brains, and Language: Would Someone Please Pull the Brakes?more
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Introduction to evolutionary epistemology, language and culturemore
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More Info: http://uwch-4.humanities.washington.edu/Texts/Philosophy%20Guides,%20Analysis'%20and%20Resources%20(ver.2)/Evolutionary%20Epistemology,%20Language%20and%20Culture%20-%20A%20Non-Adaptationist,%20Systems%20Theoretical%20Approach%20(Theory%20and%20Decision%20Library%20A).pdf
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An epistemological inquiry into the ‘what is language’ question and the ‘what did language evolve for’ question.more
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More Info: Full reference: Gontier, N. 2006. “An epistemological inquiry into the ‘what is language’ question and the ‘what did language evolve for’ question.” In: Cangelosi, A., Smith, A., & Smith, K. The evolution of language: proceedings of the 6th international conference (EVOLANG 6), pp. 107-114. London: World Scientific. Download the paper online @ http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/socce/evolang6/program.htm (click on Gontier in the program)
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Language and pathologies: an epistemological reflectionmore
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On The Different Applications Of Haeckel’s Biogenetic Law In Language Origin And Evolution Studiesmore
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More Info: Full reference: Gontier, N. 2008 “On The Different Applications Of Haeckel’s Biogenetic Law In Language Origin And Evolution Studies.” In Kern, S., Gayraud, F. & Marsico, E. Emergence of Language abilities, pp. 12-29. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd. Info on the book: http://books.google.be/books?id=OVAdNQAACAAJ&dq=sophie+kern&cd=5
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The origin of the social approach in language and cognitive research exemplified by studies into the origin of languagemore
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More Info: Ful reference: Gontier, N. 200. “The origin of the social approach in language and cognitive research exemplified by studies into the origin of language.” In, Pishwa, H. (ed.), Language and Social Cognition: Expressions of the social mind, pp. 25-46. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. [Trends in Linguistics.] info on the book: http://books.google.be/books?id=AjO9dHpjee8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=hanna+pishwa&cd=6#v=onepage&q=&f=false
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On constructing a research model for historical cognitive linguistics (HCL): Some theoretical considerationsmore
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This paper examines how historical cognitive linguistics can benefit methodologically through the application of the notion of language as a complex adaptive system. The idea that languages are complex adaptive systems (CAS) was... more
This paper examines how historical cognitive linguistics can benefit methodologically through the application of the notion of language as a complex adaptive system. The idea that languages are complex adaptive systems (CAS) was introduced initially in computational evolutionary linguistics, a discipline that was and remains inspired by biological, systems theoretical approaches to the evolution of life. Here the way that the CAS approach serves to replace older historical linguistic notions of languages as organisms and languages as species is explained as well as how the CAS approach can be generalized to encompass linguistic domains. Specifically, an overview of the CAS approach and its implementation in linguistics is provided with an emphasis on stigmergic, embodied, usage-based and socio-culturally situated language studies in particular.

Keywords: complex adaptive systems, evolutionary linguistics, historical and computational linguistics, language evolution, stigmergy, social cognitive linguistics, distributed and situated cognition, genes/ memes/linguemes, usage-based models
More Info: In Winter, M.E., Tissari, H. & Allan, K. (eds). Historical cognitive linguistics, pp. 31-69. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. This paper is the uncorrected proof.
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History of Linguistics, Computational Complexity Theory, Operating Systems, Anthropological Linguistics, Complex Systems Science, and 26 more
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On constructing a research model for historical cognitive linguistics (HCL): Some theoretical considerationsmore
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More Info: Full reference: Frank, R.M. & Gontier N. 2010 "On constructing a research model for historical cognitive linguistics (HCL): Some theoretical considerations." In Winter, M.E., Tissari, H. & Allan, K. (eds). Historical cognitive linguistics; pp 31-69. Berlin, de Gruyter/Mouton. (Book series: Cognitive Linguistics Research, nr 47) This paper is the uncorrected proof.
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Evolutionary Epistemologymore
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Teorias sobre a Evolução da Linguagemmore
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More Info: translated by Marco Pina. In Homem - Origin e Evolução, edited by Adnre Levy, Francisco Carrapiço, Marco Pina & Helena Abreu. Esfera de Caos, Portugal.
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Evolutionaire epistemologie, kunst of kitchmore
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Evolutie van taalmore
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More Info: http://books.google.be/books?id=-DKsMQAACAAJ&dq=evolutie+vandaag&lr=&cd=1
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Het laatste woord is niet gezegd, de moderne synthese voorbijmore
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More Info: http://books.google.be/books?id=-DKsMQAACAAJ&dq=irena+tallon&cd=1
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Talks
Pattern similarity in biological, linguistic & sociocultural evolutionmore
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Presented at Evolang 12, Torun, 2018
Paper of the talk available at http://evolang.org/torun/proceedings/papertemplate.html?p=149
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The European Union and the United States 2011more
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Different trees, different evolutionary theories? A philosophical approach (Ciencia viva April 2009 talk)more
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Drafts
TOPOI, CFP: Special Issue: Language and Worldviews: Ideas on Language Throughout the Agesmore
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TOPOI, CFP: Special Issue: Language and Worldviews: Ideas on Language Throughout the Ages https://www.springer.com/journal/11245/updates/17624274 Pre-inquiries by mid April! Language is a favourite topic of intellectual thought. Over the... more
TOPOI, CFP: Special Issue: Language and Worldviews: Ideas on Language Throughout the Ages
https://www.springer.com/journal/11245/updates/17624274
Pre-inquiries by mid April!
Language is a favourite topic of intellectual thought. Over the ages, language has been understood as a medium capacitating knowledge or belief; a mental faculty facilitating cognizing and reasoning; a behavioural capacity enabling communication and social interaction; a sociocultural means to identify and differentiate between groups and individuals; or an instrumental tool that permits objective scientific analysis. With this issue we aim to better delineate the intellectual genealogy of how language has been perceived and studied differentially within philosophical, religious, linguistic, and socio-anthropological schools of thought. In line with the spirit of Topoi, we want to open up a respectful dialogue on how views on language relate and differ from one another.
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CFA: Workshop on Ideas on Language Throughout the Agesmore
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Date: September 12th, 2019 Location: University of Lisbon, Portugal Satellite event following Protolang 6 We welcome scholars to participate in a one-day workshop on how language has been defined and approached differentially throughout... more
Date: September 12th, 2019
Location: University of Lisbon, Portugal
Satellite event following Protolang 6

We welcome scholars to participate in a one-day workshop on how language has been defined and approached differentially throughout history within philosophical, linguistic, psychological, and socio-anthropological schools of thought.
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CFA PROTOLANG 6, Deadline January 15th, 2019more
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We call for satellite events, 2-hour long symposia, individual talks and posters. We invite scholars from A(rcheology) to Z(oology) to contribute data, experimental and theoretical research. The 2019 conference additionally calls out for... more
We call for satellite events, 2-hour long symposia, individual talks and posters. We invite scholars from A(rcheology) to Z(oology) to contribute data, experimental and theoretical research. The 2019 conference additionally calls out for contributions on the following 5 themes:
1 Paleolithic Cosmologies: How Early Hominins conceptualized Matter, Space/Ecology, Time, Words & Number
2 Defining Protolanguage and the Biological, Cognitive, and Cultural Mechanisms and Processes whereby it evolves
3 History, Philosophy and Methodologies to Study Primate and Human Cognition, Communication & Culture
4 Multimodal Theories in Primate Communication and (Proto)Language
5 Modelling of Language Evolution (trees, networks, agent and population dynamics)

Timelines to submit:
Satellite events & symposia by January 15th, 2019;
Individual talks & posters by February 1st, 2019
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Free Access to the Special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for Evolutionary Biology, through 31st December, 2016more
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Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to... more
Our special Issue on Evolutionary Patterns for the Journal Evolutionary Biology is out now. Many thanks to the editor-in-chief, Benedikt Hallgrimsson (http://www.ucalgary.ca/morpho/personnel), for providing us with an excellent venue, to the authors for contributing, and to Eveline Kolijn for the artistic cover (http://evelinekolijn.com/?project=evolutionary-patterns). Springer is granting free access to the full issue through December 31st, 2016 at http://link.springer.com/journal/11692/43/4/page/1 Feel free to leave comments on the issue in this session!
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Book Reviews
Astrobiology, The Way Forward.more
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Vera Kolb (Ed.): Handbook of Astrobiology. 1st Edition, January 8, 2019; CRC Press; 866 pages, 50 Color & 450 B/W Illustrations; ISBN-10 1138065129, ISBN Paperback 9780367780487 (42,99 GBP), ISBN Hardcover 9781138065123 (325 GBP), ISBN... more
Vera Kolb (Ed.): Handbook of Astrobiology. 1st Edition, January 8, 2019; CRC Press; 866 pages, 50 Color & 450 B/W Illustrations; ISBN-10 1138065129, ISBN Paperback 9780367780487 (42,99 GBP), ISBN Hardcover 9781138065123 (325 GBP), ISBN e-Book 9781315159966 (292,50 GBP)
Doi: 10.1007/s11191-021-00223-0
Publication Date: 2021
Publication Name: Science and Education
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Placing universal grammar on the agenda of evolutionary linguistics? Review of Robert C. Berwick & Noam Chomsky, Why Only Usmore
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