What is the tempo of evolution?
Do new species arise continuously over time or in sudden bursts? These scenarios were termed “phyletic gradualism” and “punctuated equilibria,” respectively, by the famous evolutionary biologists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldridge. They emphasised the importance of the latter in macroevolutionary patterns of biodiversity. This caused substantial controversy in the field, with some peers referring to punctuated equilibria as “evolution by jerks.” Gould suggested his opponents’ enthusiasm for phyletic gradualism was “evolution by creeps.” Raphaël Scherrer is neither a creep nor a jerk. He is a MEME graduate currently undertaking his PhD at the Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Science. His final project during the MEME programme was undertaken at Uppsala University, where he studied the tempo of diversification of colour patterns in birds-of-paradise. In this episode, Raphaël is interviewed by Henry North, who was in his third semester of the MEME programme at Harvard University at the time of recording. Discover the pretty accident that is the birds-of-paradise in the wonderful video by Planet Earth - BBC. To see what the first naturalist thought birds-of-paradise looked like, read this fantastic essay titled "Fallen Angels: Birds-of-paradise in Early Modern Europe" by the Public Domain Review. Written by Henry North You can follow Raphaël on LinkedIn. Right now he is doing a PhD under two labs (he proclaims himself a hybrid): the Etienne lab for theoretical evolutionary and community ecology, and the Van Doorn lab for evolutionary systems biology. Feel free to send him an email to ask for his poster too! You can also check look up the supervisors he worked with on the birds-of-paradise project: Professor Melanie Monroe and Professor Jochen Wolf. Subscribe and listen to MEME Stream on soundcloud! Follow us on twitter! This episode is brought to you by:
The Le Nebuleux bird-of-paradise by Robert Havell, 1835 (left). Henry and Raphaël after the interview at the Congress of Evolutionary Biology (middle). Raphaël during his project on the birds-of-paradise.
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About the MEME StreamA podcast following MEME students past and present on their adaptive walks of life as they embark on a career in evolutionary biology. The MEME is a unique masters program that enables upcoming evolutionary biologists from all over the globe to study and research in Europe. These podcasts will travel all over Europe and the world, leaping, as Richard Dawkins says, from brain to brain, MEME to MEME, telling tales of our scientific ventures and research projects. ArchivesCategories |