Rules and Exceptions in Biology: from fundamental concepts to applications

PERETTI, A. V.

Springer

Lugar: Zurich; Año: 2023 p. 330

978-3-319-17894-3

NOTA: ISBN final en tramite. MS aceptado. A imprimirse libro durante 2023 por la Editorial.Science is a changingsystem, in which many paradigms currently accepted were considered inadequatein the past. Similarly, it is accepted that well-established explanations canbe strongly modified in the near future. Many fields in Life Sciences, such asecology, ethology and evolution, are good examples of such change. Robustexplanations result from the identification of patterns thatreflect general and well-established rules. However, it is often the case thatthere are other patterns that constitute exceptions or that remain unclear.It is crucial to clearly recognize the differences between whathas been established as a general pattern from what is an exception, asinterpretations in both cases have differentimplications from an evolutionary perspective. This book explores this in LifeSciences and, particularly, in evolutionary biology, and what criteria havebeen used to establish such definitions and limits. Furthermore, thisbook evaluates the changes that have occurred in criteria and concepts within subject areas, and what may constitute implicit biases. Dynamics:a) when a rule comes to be viewed as an exception; b)when something that was initially considered an exceptionbecomes a rule. Studies on many groups of organisms are used as examples toillustrate part of this interactive link, offering new informative material toconfirm, limit or refute concepts based upon rules and exceptions in science. During recent years some concepts of biologicalrules (e.g., norms, laws) and exceptions (e.g., rarities, outliers) have been partiallyvisited (1). The present book offers a major synthesis of this amazing subject throughdetailed examples from Life Sciences to answer key ecological, developmentaland evolutionary questions. The reader will find a critical summary of majorbreakthroughs in taxon-oriented examples, offering new perspectives and casesto explore, sometimes sharing unpublished data. It will be an essential sourceof knowledge of how two apparently opposed situations, rule and exception, flowand interact together from different scales of time, space and taxa in nature.