Hologenesis: The last and lost theory of evolutionary change

Abstract

One of the most important theories of evolutionary change arising around the turn of the century, "hologenesis" proposed by Daniele Rosa, has often been misinterpreted and widely ignored, perhaps because of the lack of an English translation. In this paper we discuss the theory of the Italian zoologist, with an emphasis on its historical value and its links with current evolutionary thought. In particular, we detect four main themes within Rosa's work that can be referred to the current evolutionary debate: namely vicariance biogeography, the concept of species as individuals, the dichotomous branching of phylogenetic trees and the concept of apotypic and plesiotypic branches. The evident links between Rosa's hologenesis on the one hand and vicariance biogeography, panbiogeography, and Hennigian cladistics on the other, lead us tq the re-evaluation of some aspects of Rosa's thought.

Panbiogeography from tracks to ocean basins: evolving perspectives

“…Craw & Weston, 1984; Page,1987, 1990a; Craw & Page, 1988; Henderson, 1990, 1991). Other studies addressed interdisciplinary issues of geology and tectonics (Craw, 1982; Heads, 1990a, 1999), evolutionary biology (Grehan & Ainsworth, 1985; Heads, 1985b; Gray, 1988; Grehan, 1988; Morrone, 2000a), culture/history (Craw & Heads, 1988; Zunino, 1992; Craw, 1993; Luzzatto et al ., 2000), and biodiversity/conservation (e.g. Grehan, 1992, 1995, 2000; Morrone & Crisci, 1992; Heads, 1993a; Luna et al ., 2000; Morrone, 2000b).…”

Cryptic diversity and multiple origins of the widespread mayfly species groupBaetis rhodani(Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) on northwestern Mediterranean islands

“…Several hypotheses on the origin of the Tyrrhenian islands biota have been put forward during the last century. At first, it was proposed that such a distinctive biota formed via hologenesis, a process implying a prominent role for vicariance events (Luzzatto, Palestrini, & D'entrèves, ; Monterosso, ; Monti, ). Subsequently, more emphasis was given to dispersal, and a three‐step process of colonization was hypothesized (Baccetti, ): a pre‐Miocene step through a supposed land bridge with the Baetic region (southern Spain); a Miocene step which brought warm‐temperate species from North Africa and Italy; and a Quaternary step which brought temperate species from the Apennines (Italy) via a land bridge connecting Tuscany with northern Corsica.…”

Cryptic diversity and multiple origins of the widespread mayfly species groupBaetis rhodani(Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) on northwestern Mediterranean islands

“…Several hypotheses on the origin of the Tyrrhenian islands biota have been put forward during the last century. At first, it was proposed that such a distinctive biota formed via hologenesis, a process implying a prominent role for vicariance events (Monti, 1915;Monterosso, 1935;Luzzatto et al, 2000). Subsequently, more emphasis was given to dispersal, and a three-step process of colonization was hypothesized (Baccetti, 1964): a pre-Miocene step through a supposed land bridge with the Baetic region (southern Spain); a Miocene step which brought warm-temperate species from North Africa and Italy; and a Quaternary step which brought temperate species from the Apennines (Italy) via a land bridge connecting Tuscany with northern Corsica.…”