Premium
Blood will tell (won't it?): A century of molecular discourse in anthropological systematics
Author(s) -
Marks Jonathan
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330940106
Subject(s) - field (mathematics) , genetic data , systematics , epistemology , diversity (politics) , evolutionary biology , molecular genetics , history of science , quality (philosophy) , data science , sociology , biology , anthropology , computer science , zoology , philosophy , genetics , mathematics , taxonomy (biology) , demography , population , gene , pure mathematics
Being derived from the hereditary material, molecular genetic data are often assumed to be a source of sounder inferences about evolution than data from other kinds of investigations. This, however, tends to be taken in the absence of a clear knowledge of the evolutionary processes at work, the technical shortcomings, and the manner of deriving the specific conclusions. The history of biological anthropology shows that, from the beginning of the 20th century, grossly naive conclusions have been promoted simply on the basis that they are derived from genetics, without having been fully thought‐out. A balanced consideration of the shortcomings as well as the advantages of genetic data are necessary for its proper integration into the field. When molecular and morphological data disagree, both must be reexamined carefully, for genetics has been used irresponsibly as a form of scientific validation, both in American society and in American science. Contemporary data bearing on the molecular relationships of the apes are noteworthy for their diversity in quality, and need to be evaluated in the light of molecular and microevolutionary theory. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.