Research Interests for Daniel W. McShea

Dan McShea (Ph.D. 1990, University of Chicago) arrived at Duke in 1996 with a primary appointment in Biology, and now holds a secondary appointment in Philosophy. From 1991-93 he joined the Michigan Society of Fellows as a postdoctoral fellow, and from 1994-95 held a postdoc at the Santa Fe Institute. His major papers are in the field of paleobiology, with a focus on large-scale trends in the history of life, especially documenting and investigating the causes of the (putative) trend in the complexity of organisms. A significant part of this work involves operationalizing certain concepts, such as complexity and hierarchy, as well as clarifying conceptual issues related to trends at larger scales. He publishes regularly in the journals, Evolution, Paleobiology, and Biology and Philosophy. He serves on the editorial board of Biology and Philosophy and as a book-review co-editor for the journal Complexity . McShea is a member of Duke's Center for the Philosophy of Biology.

Keywords:

Adaptation, Biological, Aerobiosis, Anaerobiosis, Animals, Ants, Artificial Intelligence, Atmosphere, Behavior, Animal, Biological Evolution, Body Size, Brain, Cell Physiological Phenomena, Cetacea, Classification, Computer Simulation, Cyanobacteria, Developmental Biology, Drosophila melanogaster, Earth (Planet), Entropy, Environment, Eukaryotic Cells, Evolution, Evolution, Molecular, Fossils, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Genetic Fitness, Genetic Variation, Geologic Sediments, Geological Phenomena, Geology, Goals, History, 20th Century, History, 21st Century, History, Ancient, Humans, Insects, Logic, Macroevolution, Mammals, Mathematics, Metazoa, Models, Biological, Motivation, Muser Mentor, Mutation, Oxygen, Paleontology, Personal Satisfaction, Philosophy, Philosophy of Biology, Photosynthesis, Pigmentation, Plant Development, Rabbits, Rats, Science, Selection, Genetic, Social Behavior, Teleology, Time Factors, Tomography, Spiral Computed, Tooth, Trees, Wing, Zoology

Areas of Interest:

Macroevolution, 
Large-ScaleTrends, 
Complexity, 
Biological hierarchy

Representative Publications

1. McShea, DW, Upper-directed systems: A new approach to teleology in biology, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 27 no. 5 (September, 2012), pp. 663-684, Springer Nature, ISSN 0169-3867 [doi] [abs]
2. D.W. McShea and Robert Brandon, Biology's First Law (2010), University of Chicago Press
3. Fleming, L; McShea, DW, Drosophila mutants suggest a strong drive toward complexity in evolution, Evolution and Development, vol. 15 no. 1 (2012), pp. 53-62 (Paper was written up in a Scientific American piece by Carl Zimmer. Attached.) [23331917], [doi] [abs]
4. Marcot, JD; McShea, DW, Increasing hierarchical complexity throughout the history of life: Phylogenetic tests of trend mechanisms, Paleobiology, vol. 33 no. 2 (March, 2007), pp. 182-200, Cambridge University Press (CUP), ISSN 0094-8373 [doi] [abs] [author's comments]
5. McShea, DW, The evolution of complexity without natural selection, a possible large-scale trend of the fourth kind, Paleobiology, vol. 31 no. 2 SUPPL. (July, 2005), pp. 146-156, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [doi] [abs]
6. McShea, DW, Machine wanting., Studies in history and philosophy of biological and biomedical sciences, vol. 44 no. 4 Pt B (December, 2013), pp. 679-687, ISSN 1369-8486 [23792091], [doi] [abs]
7. McShea, DW, A universal generative tendency toward increased organismal complexity, in Variation: A Central Concept in Biology, edited by B. Hallgrimsson and B. Hall (December, 2005), pp. 435-453, Elsevier [doi] [abs]
8. 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
9. Marino, L; McShea, DW; Uhen, MD, Origin and evolution of large brains in toothed whales., The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology, vol. 281 no. 2 (December, 2004), pp. 1247-1255, ISSN 1552-4884 [15497142], [doi] [abs]
10. McShea, DW; Changizi, MA, Three puzzles in hierarchical evolution., Integrative and comparative biology, vol. 43 no. 1 (February, 2003), pp. 74-81, ISSN 1540-7063 [21680411], [doi] [abs]
11. McShea, DW, A complexity drain on cells in the evolution of multicellularity., Evolution; international journal of organic evolution, vol. 56 no. 3 (March, 2002), pp. 441-452, ISSN 0014-3820 [11989676], [doi] [abs]
12. McShea, DW; Venit, EP, Testing for bias in the evolution of coloniality: A demonstration in cyclostome bryozoans, Paleobiology, vol. 28 no. 3 (Summer, 2002), pp. 308-327, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [doi] [abs]
13. McShea, DW, The minor transitions in hierarchical evolution and the question of a directional bias, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 14 no. 3 (July, 2001), pp. 502-518, WILEY, ISSN 1010-061X [doi] [abs]
14. McShea, DW, The hierarchical structure of organisms: A scale and documentation of a trend in the maximum, Paleobiology, vol. 27 no. 2 (January, 2001), pp. 405-423, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [doi] [abs]
15. Anderson, C; McShea, DW, Individual versus social complexity, with particular reference to ant colonies., Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol. 76 no. 2 (May, 2001), pp. 211-237, ISSN 1464-7931 [11396847], [doi] [abs]
16. McShea, DW; Venit, EP, What is a Part?, in The Character Concept in Evolutionary Biology, edited by G.P. Wagner (2001), pp. 259-284, Elsevier, ISBN 9780127300559 [doi]
17. McShea, DW, Functional complexity in organisms: Parts as proxies, Biology and Philosophy, vol. 15 no. 5 (December, 2000), pp. 641-668, Springer Nature, ISSN 0169-3867 [doi] [abs]
18. 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
19. McShea, DW, Possible largest-scale trends in organismal evolution: Eight 'live hypotheses', Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol. 29 no. 1 (December, 1998), pp. 293-318, ANNUAL REVIEWS [doi] [abs]