CNCS Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems
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Dan McShea, Professor of Biology

Dan McShea
Contact Info:
Office Location:  242/223 Bio Sci
Office Phone:  919-660-7342 office, 660-7343 lab
Email Address: send me a message
Web Page:  McShea Lab Webpage">McShea Lab Webpage

Teaching (Spring 2012):

  • BIOLOGY 295S.47, THE BIOLOGY OF HAPPINESS Synopsis
    Bio Sci 063, M 04:40 PM-07:10 PM
Education:

Ph.D. University of Chicago 1990
A.B. Harvard College 1978
A.B., Harvard University, 1978, summa cum laude
Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1990
Specialties:

Organismal Biology and Behavior
Evolution
Research Interests: Macroevolution, paleobiology, philosophy of biology

Current projects: 1)Theory of the evolution of complexity, 2) Theory of feeling and motivation

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

Keywords:

complexity • evolution • hierarchy

Current Ph.D. Students   (Former Students)

    Representative Publications   (More Publications)

    1. Payne, J.L., A.G. Boyer, J.H. Brown, S. Finnegan, M. Kowalewski, R.A. Krause, Jr., S.K. Lyons, C.R. McClain, D.W. McShea, P.M. Novack-Gottshall, F.A. Smith, J.A. Stempien, and S.C. Wang, Two-phase increase in the maximum size of life over 3.5 billion years reflects biological innovation and environmental opportunity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 106 (2009), pp. 24-27
    2. 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]
    3. 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
    4. 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
    5. 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
    6. 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
    7. D.W. McShea and M.A. Changizi, Three puzzles in hierarchical evolution, Integrative and Comparative Biology, vol. 43 (2003), pp. 74-81
    8. D.W. McShea, A complexity drain on cells in the evolution of multicellularity, Evolution, vol. 56 no. 3 (2002), pp. 441-452
    9. 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
    10. 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
    11. 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
    12. 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
    13. D.W. McShea and E.P. Venit, What is a part?, in The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology, edited by G.P. Wagner (2001)
    14. D.W. McShea, Functional complexity in organisms: parts as proxies, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 15 (2000), pp. 641-668
    15. 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
    16. 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