V. C. Wynne-Edwards

Vero Copner Wynne -Edwards ( born July 4, 1906 in Leeds, † January 5, 1997 in Banchory, Scotland) was a versatile British zoologist who developed the theory of group selection in his 650 page book, Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour 1962. Over a period of 68 years away, he published ecological studies and also played such a key role in the establishment of ecology as an independent academic discipline.

Career

After studying zoology at Oxford to Vero Wynne -Edwards employed initially in Plymouth with marine biological and ornithological issues and moved in 1930 from McGill University in Montreal ( Canada). On the voyage to North America, he noticed that - depending on the distance from the coast - to observe different animals: he discovered that the basic pattern of the species composition of riparian zone, continental shelf and deep sea. In the following years he persuaded the Cunard Line, whose ferries across the Atlantic to transport him several times for free, so he could understand the seasonal migrations of sea birds, including the cap or the Great Shearwater ( Puffinus gravis ).

In 1946, Wynne -Edwards back to the UK, the Zoological Institute of Aberdeen, where he remained until his retirement in 1974 and also studied botanical themes. Published in 1962 his main scientific work, Animal Dispersion in Relation to Social Behaviour.

Group selection

Vero Wynne -Edwards developed in this work the theory of group selection in which it is assumed that the read (in the sense of Charles Darwin) not only at the individual attaches, but also in social groups. He argued that the behavior of animals is often altruistic, so good is their group and only thereby - indirectly - even their own survival.

His theory was controversial among evolutionary researchers from the beginning and is still being rejected by the majority; but the debate about his ideas led to many research projects in the field of sociobiology, in particular on the behavior of birds, as well -known researchers such as Edward O. Wilson intervened in the debate.

Works

  • VC Wynne -Edwards: Animal dispersion in relation to social behavior. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh 1962.
  • VC Wynne -Edwards: Evolution through group selections. Blackwell Scientific Publ, Oxford / London 1986.
  • VC Wynne -Edwards: Self Regulating Systems in Populations of Animals. In: Science, volume 147 of 26 March 1965, p 1543-1548.
  • Zoologist
  • Ecologist
  • Behavioral scientists
  • Socio- biologist
  • Ornithologist
  • Briton
  • Born in 1906
  • Died in 1997
  • Man
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