In the Light of Evolution III:
Two Centuries of Darwin
Organizered by John C. Avise and Francisco J. Ayala
January 15-17, 2009
Irvine, CA
Meeting Overview:
The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his most influential publication, On the Origin of Species, in which he developed the equally revolutionary concept that a natural but non-random process—natural selection—yields biological adaptations that otherwise can give a superficial impression of intelligent conscious design.
This colloquium brought together leading evolutionary biologists and science historians to reflect upon and commemorate the Darwinian Revolution. One goal of this symposium was to canvass modern scientific thought and research approaches regarding each of the three main categories of selection (natural, artificial, and sexual) that Darwin addressed during his career. Although Darwin is associated most often with his elucidation of natural selection in The Origin, he also thought and wrote extensively about artificial and sexual selection, as reflected for example in two other books titled, respectively, The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (1869) and The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871). Other goals of this colloquium were to place Darwin’s seminal contributions in historical perspective, and in general to celebrate Darwin’s ongoing scientific legacy.
Video Available
I. Natural Selection: Adaptation to Nature
Introduction, John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine
Selection in Action During Speciation
Sara Via, University of Maryland
Adaptive Radiations
Scott Hodges, UC Santa Barbara
The corresponding evolutionary histories of euglenozoans and dinoflagellates:
cascades of convergent evolution or accumulation of oddities?
Julius Lukes, Institute of Parasitology, České Budějovice
The Genetics of Ecological Speciation - it is Different?
Dolph Schluter, University of British Columbia
II. Artificial Selection: Adaptation to Human Demands
Chair, Dolph Schluter, University of British Columbia
The Genetic Architecture of an Adaptive Trait: Maize Flowering Time
Ed Buckler, Cornell University
From Wild Animals to Domestic Pets
Stephen O’Brien, National Cancer Institute
Unnatural Selection: Human-induced Evolution in Wild Animals
Fred Allendorf, University of Montana
Pathways of adaptive protein evolution: lessons from directed evolution
Frances Arnold, California Institute of Technology
Keynote Lecture
Introduction, Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
Beyond Biology: Darwin's Revolution and Society
Daniel C. Dennett, Tufts University
III. Sexual Selection: Adaptation to Mating Demands
Chair, Julius Lukes, Institute of Parasitology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Mate Choice and Sexual Selection: What Have We Learned Since Darwin?
Adam Jones, Texas A&M
It's About Time: Reproductive Decisions Under Ecological Constraints
Patty Gowaty, University of California, Los Angeles
Sexual Selection and Mating Systems
Stephen Shuster, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
Missing Pieces of Darwin’s Puzzle
William Eberhard, STRI Costa Rica
Session IV: The Darwinian Legacy: 150 Years Later
Chair, John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine
Darwin and the Scientific Method
Francisco J. Ayala, University of California, Irvine
The Darwinian Revolution
Michael Ruse, Florida State University
The Structure of Evolutionary Theory
Elliott Sober, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Darwin’s Place in the History of Science
Robert Richards, University of Chicago
Concluding Remarks, John C. Avise, University of California, Irvine
