Encyclopedia of Evolution.pdf - Online Reading Center

its surface (see Gaia hypothesis). At present, most biologists
consider the earth to be the home of biology, rather than a
biological being.
Further Reading
Keller, Evelyn Fox. Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological
Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Mayr, Ernst. This Is Biology: The Science of the Living World. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997.
———. What Makes Biology Unique?: Considerations on the Autonomy
of a Scientific Discipline. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2004.
Vandermeer, John. Reconstructing Biology: Genetics and Ecology in
the New World Order. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1996.
biophilia Biophilia, a term invented by evolutionary biologist
E. O. Wilson (see Wilson, Edward O.), refers to a universal
love (-philia) of nature and life (bio-). It may have a
genetic component, as well as a learned component that is
acquired by children during exposure to the outdoors.
The feeling of biophilia, contends Wilson, was as much
the product of natural selection as any other aspect
of sociobiology such as religion or the fear of strangers.
Biophilia provided a fitness advantage for humans and
their evolutionary ancestors. The enjoyment of birds, trees,
and mammals encouraged learning about them. By carefully
watching the other species, primitive humans could learn to
make more effective use of them as natural resources. The
people who enjoyed listening to birds would be more likely
to recognize a bird alarm call that might indicate the presence
of a dangerous predator. While a feeling of biophilia was not
necessary to these beneficial actions, it made them easier and
more effective. The extensive use of animal motifs in such
paintings as those in the caves of Lascaux and Altamira (see
Cro-Magnon) suggests that biophilia may have been closely
connected to religion, which also provided important advantages
to primitive human societies (see religion, evolution
of). An appreciation of the beauty of the landscape, and a
love for its living community of species, may have kept some
primitive humans from giving up in the frequently harsh circumstances
of life, and these were the humans who were the
ancestors of modern people. Modern humans are, according
to this concept, happiest in environments that most closely
resemble the savanna in which the human genus first evolved
two million years ago.
Psychologists and urban planners have independently
arrived at a concept similar to biophilia. Psychologists have
found that humans are happier in, and choose environments
that contain, a balance of trees and open areas. Urban
planners have been careful to include trees and landscaping
with buildings, and parks between them. Biophilia may
also explain the frequent success of horticultural therapy in
the recovery of patients from physical and mental diseases.
Programs to help guide children away from social problems
often include an outdoor component. Even though many
people can be as happy in a big city as if it were canyons,
most people seek occasional escape into the natural world.
bipedalism
Biophilia may be essential to the successful preservation
of natural areas simply because most people cannot conceive
of living in a world in which natural areas have been
destroyed.
In modern society, the learning component of biophilia
has lost a great deal of its inclusion of biodiversity. Many
people like trees but do not particularly care which ones.
While Central American native tribal children can identify
many plant species, children in the United States can identify
very few. Moreover, when modern humans visit the outdoors,
they usually take a great deal of their manufactured
environment with them. While modern humans insist that
they be close to parks and natural areas, they pay very little
attention to the protection of endangered species. Wilson and
many others believe that, in order to rescue biodiversity from
what appears to be the sixth of the mass extinctions that is
now resulting from human activity, humans must rediscover
the love not just of nature but of species. In this regard, evolution-based
biological and environmental education may be
essential for the protection of the natural world.
Further Reading
Lewis, Charles A. Green Nature Human Nature: The Meaning of
Plants in Our Lives. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
Wilson, Edward O. Biophilia. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1986.
bipedalism Animals that walk habitually upon two legs
are bipeds, and this ability is called bipedalism. As any dog
owner or anyone who has visited a zoo knows, many quadrupedal
animals (animals that habitually walk on four legs)
can stand on two legs for a brief time, and perhaps even walk
on two legs. Some apes, such as chimpanzees, are partially
bipedal. Their form of locomotion, called knuckle-walking,
involves long arms and the use of their knuckles to help
them maintain their posture. Only humans and birds are fully
bipedal among modern animal species.
Adaptations required for human bipedalism include:
• Strong gluteus maximus muscle. The largest muscle in the
human body is the gluteus maximus, which connects the
backbone and the femur (thighbone or upper leg bone). By
contracting, this muscle pulls the backbone into an upright
position. This is one reason why humans have big butts,
compared to other primates.
• Foramen magnum underneath the skull. The foramen magnum
is the opening in the skull through which the spinal
cord connects to the brain. In quadrupedal animals, this
opening is in the rear of the skull, but in humans it is at the
base of the skull.
• The pelvis. The pelvis (hip bone) of humans must support
most of the weight of the body and has a shorter, broader
shape than is found in quadrupeds.
• The knees. The knee joint must be able to extend to make
the femur straight in line with the tibia and fibula (lower
leg bones).
• Angle of femur. The femur of humans angles inward, while
in chimpanzees it does not.