Daniel W McShea, Associate Professor
Education:
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1990
A.B., Harvard College, 1978
Office Location: BioSci: 242
Office Phone: 919-660-7342 office, 660-7343 lab
Email Address: dmcshea@duke.edu
Web Page: http://www.biology.duke.edu/mcshealab/
Specialties:
Evolution
Organismal Biology and Behavior
Research Categories: Macroevolution, paleobiology, philosophy of biology
Current projects: 1)Theory of the evolution of complexity, 2) Theory of feeling and motivation
Research Description: I am interested in large-scale evolutionary trends, that is, trends that include a number of higher taxa and span a large portion of the history of life. Features that have been said to show such trends include complexity, size, fitness, and others. In my research, I have been developing operational measures of these features, devising methods for testing empirically whether trends have occurred, and studying the causes and correlates of trends. My major work so far has been on trends in complexity. I am also interested in: 1. The relationships among the various evolutionary forces acting on animal form -- functional, formal, and phylogenetic. 2. Theoretical aspects of animal psychology. 3. The philosophy of biology.
Areas of Interest:
evolution of complexity
macroevolution
paleobiology
proximate mechanisms of behavior/animal psychology
philosophy of biology
Representative Publications (More Publications) (search)
- J. Marcot and D.W. McShea, Increasing hierarchical complexity throughout the history of life: phylogenetic tests of trend mechanisms, Paleobiology, vol. 33 (2007), pp. 182-200 [abs] [author's comments].
- D.W. McShea, The evolution of complexity without natural selection (or, a possible large-scale trend of the fourth kind), Paleobiology, vol. 31 (Supplement) (2005), pp. 146-156 .
- D.W. McShea, A universal generative tendency toward increased organismal complexity, in Variation: A Central Concept in Biology, edited by B. Hallgrimsson and B. Hall (2005), pp. 435-453, Academic Press .
- D.W. McShea and C. Anderson, The remodularization of the organism, in Modularity: Understanding the Development and Evolution of Natural Complex Systems, edited by W. Callebaut and D. Rasskin-Gutman (2005), pp. 185-206, The MIT Press .
- L. Marino, D.W. McShea, and M.D. Uhen, Origin and evolution of large brains in toothed whales, Anatomical Record, vol. 281A (2004), pp. 1247-1255 .
- D.W. McShea and M.A. Changizi, Three puzzles in hierarchical evolution, Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol. 43 (2003), pp. 74-81 .
- D.W. McShea, A complexity drain on cells in the evolution of multicellularity, Evolution, vol. 56 no. 3 (2002), pp. 441-452 .
- D.W. McShea and E.P. Venit, Testing for bias in the evolution of coloniality: A demonstration in cyclostome bryozoans, Paleobiology, vol. 28 no. 3 (2002), pp. 308-327 .
- D.W. McShea, The "minor transitions" in hierarchial evolution and the question of directional bias, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 14 (2001), pp. 502-518 .
- D.W. McShea, The hierarchical structure of organisms: a scale and documentation of a trend in the maximum, Paleobiology, vol. 27 (2001), pp. 405-423 .
- Anderson, C and DW McShea, Individual versus social complexity, with particular reference to ant colonies, Biological Reviews (of the Cambridge Philosophical Society), vol. 76 (2001), pp. 211-237 .
- D.W. McShea and E.P. Venit, What is a part?, in The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology, edited by G.P. Wagner (2001) .
- D.W. McShea, Functional complexity in organisms: parts as proxies, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 15 (2000), pp. 641-668 .
- D.W. McShea, Feelings as the proximate cause of behavior, in Where Psychology Meets Biology: Philosophical Essays, edited by V.G. Hardcastle (1999), Cambridge University Press .
- D.W. McShea, Possible largest-scale trends in organismal evolution: eight "live hypotheses", Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol. 29 (1998), pp. 293-318 .
Duke Biology Box 90338 Durham, NC 27708 Phone: 919-660-7372 Fax: 919-660-7293