Fundamentals of Evolution - Korzh O.P. - 2006

Part II. MACROEVOLUTION

There are still biologists who maintain a kind of purism regarding the fundamental principles of modern biology, believing, for instance, that one can discuss aromorphoses without any real grounding in contemporary biology. This academic prudishness provokes a reciprocal arrogance among molecular biologists—especially those lacking a solid foundational Background in general biology—who mistakenly assume they can theorize about evolution without mastering the vast factual and conceptual wealth accumulated by biology over 225 years of the ESTABLISHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT of scientific transformism.

Class="right">N.N. Vorontsov

Scientists frequently reduce macroevolutionary transformations of organisms to The process of forming supraspecific taxonomic categories. At the same time, it is rarely sufficient to limit oneself solely to these issues. It is precisely at this level that we face the most pressing questions concerning the coordinated development of organisms, the adaptive restructuring of specific Organs and their systems, the pathways of evolution, and the causes behind the progressive or regressive transformations of various biological groups. Unfortunately, most of these questions still lack satisfactory Answers, as macroevolutionary processes remain the least thoroughly investigated area within the Synthetic Theory of evolution. This is likely a consequence of many biologists' excessive fascination with processes and phenomena occurring at sub-organismal levels, which often fail to provide an adequate understanding of natural phenomena as a whole.