Court jester hypothesis

Part of a series on
Evolutionary biology
Darwin's finches by John Gould
Processes and outcomes
Natural history
History of evolutionary theory
Fields and applications
Social implications

The court jester hypothesis is used in reference to the idea that abiotic forces (including climate), rather than biotic competition between species, function as a major driving force behind the processes in evolution which produce speciation. In evolutionary theory, the court-jester hypothesis contrasts the Red Queen hypothesis.

The term "Court Jester hypothesis" was coined by Anthony Barnosky in 1999 in allusion to the Red Queen hypothesis.[1] In a 2001 paper on the subject,[2] Barnosky uses the term without citation, suggesting that he is the one who coined it. Westfall and Millar attribute the term to him (citing the 2001 paper) in a paper of their own from 2004.[3] Michael Benton also credits Barnosky with coining the phrase.[4]

Since 2001, many researchers in evolution (such as Tracy Aze,[5] Anthony Barnosky, Michael J. Benton,[4] Douglas Erwin,[6] Thomas Ezard,[5] Sergey Gravilets,[7] J.B.C. Jackson,[6] Paul N. Pearson,[5] Andy Purvis,[5] Robert D. Westfall,[3] and Constance I. Millar[3]) have started to use the term "Court Jester hypothesis" to describe the view that evolution at a macro scale is driven by abiotic factors more than the biotic competition called the Red Queen hypothesis.

  1. ^ Anthony Barnosky, "Does evolution dance to the Red Queen or the Court Jester?", 3 Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology USA (1999). https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ujvp20/19/sup003?nav=tocList
  2. ^ Anthony Barnosky, "Distinguishing The Effects Of The Red Queen And Court Jester On Miocene Mammal Evolution In The Northern Rocky Mountains" Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(1):172–185, March 2001 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/miomap/RESULTS-MIOMAP/barnoskyjvp2001.pdf
  3. ^ a b c Robert D. Westfall and Constance I. Millar, "Genetic consequences of forest population dynamics influenced by historic climatic variability in the western USA" Forest Ecology and Management 197 (2004) 159–170. http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/westfall/Westfall%20&%20Millar%2004.pdf
  4. ^ a b Michael J. Benton, "The Red Queen and the Court Jester: Species Diversity and the Role of Biotic and Abiotic Factors Through Time", Science February 6, 2009: Vol. 323 no. 5915 pp. 728–732 doi:10.1126/science.1157719
  5. ^ a b c d Thomas H. G. Ezard, Tracy Aze, Paul N. Pearson, and Andy Purvis, "Interplay Between Changing Climate and Species’ Ecology Drives Macroevolutionary Dynamics", Science April 15, 2011: Vol. 332 no. 6027 pp. 349–351 doi:10.1126/science.1203060
  6. ^ a b Jeremy B.C. Jackson and Douglas H. Erwin, "What can we learn about ecology and evolution from the fossil record?" Trends in Ecology and Evolution)
  7. ^ Sergey Gavrilets, et al., "Adaptive Radiation: Contrasting Theory with Data",Science February 6, 2009: 732–737. doi:10.1126/science.1157966