Individuality through ecology: rethinking the evolution of complex life from an externalist perspective

Pierrick Bourrat*, Peter Takacs, Guilhem Doulcier, Matthew C. Nitschke, Andrew J. Black, Katrin Hammerschmidt, Paul B. Rainey

*Corresponding author for this work

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    Abstract

    The evolution of complex life forms, exemplified by multicellular organisms, can be traced through a series of evolutionary transitions in individuality, beginning with the origin of life, followed by the emergence of the eukaryotic cell, and, among other transitions, culminating in the shift from unicellularity to multicellularity. Several attempts have been made to explain the origins of such transitions, many of which have been internalist (i.e., based largely on internal properties of ancestral entities). Here, we show how externalist perspectives can shed new light on questions pertaining to evolutionary transitions in individuality. We do this by presenting the ecological scaffolding framework in which properties of complex life forms arise from an external scaffold. Ultimately, we anticipate that progress will come from recognition of the importance of both the internalist and externalist modes of explanation. We illustrate this by considering an extension of the ecological scaffolding model in which cells modify the environment that later becomes the scaffold giving rise to multicellular individuality.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbere70661
    Pages (from-to)1-13
    Number of pages13
    JournalEcology and Evolution
    Volume14
    Issue number12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024

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    Copyright the Author(s) 2024. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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