Typostrophy theory

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The doctrine of typostrophes was a theory of evolution introduced by Otto Heinrich Schindewolf , which was particularly widespread in Germany, but no longer corresponds to the state of science today.

According to this view, the evolution of organisms regularly takes place in so-called typostrophes . A typostrophe begins with the emergence of a new form ( typogenesis ), which is then developed over time within the scope of its development potential ( typostasis ). Eventually the form reaches the limits of its possibilities and dies out ( typolysis ).

The typogenesis is qualitative as a period of profound transformations, kind, autonomous, erratic, revolutiv, explosive, so relatively limited time, understood. The result is then a new blueprint, a new type. According to Otto Heinrich Schindewolf, this phase has its own phyletic mechanism, which is characterized by the occurrence of macromutations and which differs sharply from the infraspecific (“neo-Darwinian”) mechanisms.

During typostasis , the morphological level is changed only to a small extent, so to speak superficially. The structure of the building plan, the type, is retained. The evolution takes place here roughly in the manner that the selection theory describes. In this phase, however, nothing fundamentally new arises. Strictly speaking, these adaptations are an evolutionary dead end.

The Typolyse other hand, is a phase of degeneration, savagery and the dissolution of types. Shapes are created that deviate from the norm. Ultimately, this leads to the form becoming extinct.

The theory of typostrophes goes back to the old ideas of the natural philosophers ( Georges Cuvier , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Friedrich Schelling , Lorenz Oken and others). It was founded by Karl Beurlen and represented in its most mature form by Otto Heinrich Schindewolf , who also coined the term "Typostrophe". The authors who took such views were mostly paleontologists . An essential prerequisite of the theory of typostrophes is that the gaps in the fossil record are "real", that is, that there were never any intermediate forms. This theory was explicitly formulated as opposed to Charles Darwin's selection theory. The adaptation does not play a role in the theory of typostrophes for the actual evolution: the actual innovations take place in leaps and bounds during typogenesis, without the influence of selection. The new types have to find a habitat that is suitable for them.

Since Schindewolf only published in German, the theory of typostrophes remained practically unknown internationally. In Germany, however, this view was the standard for a long time, at least among paleontologists. Schindewolf's 1950 book was the common source paleontologists used to study evolution.

literature

  • K. Beurlen: Function and form in organic development . In: Natural Sciences . 20/1932 pp. 73-80.
    This article contains the first presentation of the doctrine of typostrophes.
  • Otto Heinrich Schindewolf: Basic questions of paleontology. Geological time measurement, organic tribal development, biological systematics . Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1950.
    Schindewolf's standard work, in which he presents the theory of typostrophes in its most mature form.
  • W.-E. Reif: Evolutionary theory in German paleontology . In: M. Grene (Ed.): Dimensions of Darwinism. Themes and Counterthemes in Twentieth-Century Evolutionary Theory pp. 173–203 Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1983.
  • W.-E. Reif: The search for a macroevolutionary theory in German palaeontology In: Journ. Hist. Biol. 19/1986 pp. 79–130
    In these works, Reif describes the importance of Schindewolf from the perspective of a paleontologist.
  • W.-E. Reif: Afterword . In: OH Schindewolf: Basic Questions in Paleontology: Geologic Time, Organic Evolution, and Biological Systematics . In: The University of Chicago Press pp. 435-454. Chicago / London 1993.
    Appreciation of the theory of typostrophes and presentation of their effect, especially in Germany, in the English translation of Schindewolf's book from 1950.
  • Stephen Jay Gould : Foreword . In: OH Schindewolf: Basic Questions in Paleontology: Geologic Time, Organic Evolution, and Biological Systematics . The University of Chicago Press. P. IX-XIV. Chicago / London 1993.
    Gould's foreword from the same book. Gould pays tribute to Schindewolf's achievement against the background of his own criticism of the current standard theory of evolution (Synthetic Theory of Evolution).