Topic: Atavism

In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic

trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations.
Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when genes for previously existing
phenotypic features are preserved in DNA, and these become expressed through a mutation
that either knocks out the dominant genes for the new traits or makes the old traits dominate
the new one. A number of traits can vary as a result of shortening of the fetal development of
a trait (neoteny) or by prolongation of the same. In such a case, a shift in the time a trait is
allowed to develop before it is fixed can bring forth an ancestral phenotype. Atavisms are
often seen as evidence of evolution.In social sciences, atavism is the tendency of reversion.
For example, people in the modern era reverting to the ways of thinking and acting of a
former time.

The word atavism is derived from the Latin atavus—a great-great-great-grandfather or, more
generally, an ancestor.

Biology
Evolutionarily traits that have disappeared phenotypically do not necessarily disappear from
an organism's DNA. The gene sequence often remains, but is inactive. Such an unused gene
may remain in the genome for many generations. As long as the gene remains intact, a fault
in the genetic control suppressing the gene can lead to it being expressed again. Sometimes,
the expression of dormant genes can be induced by artificial stimulation.

Atavisms have been observed in humans, such as with infants born with vestigial tails (called
a "coccygeal process", "coccygeal projection", or "caudal appendage"). Atavism can also be
seen in humans who possess large teeth, like those of other primates. In addition, a case of
"snake heart", the presence of "coronary circulation and myocardial architecture [that closely]
resemble those of the reptilian heart", has also been reported in medical literature. Atavism
has also recently been induced in avian dinosaur (bird) fetuses to express dormant ancestral
non-avian dinosaur (non-bird) features, including teeth.Other examples of observed atavisms
include:

Hind limbs in cetaceans.

Extra toes of the modern horse.

Reappearance of limbs in limbless vertebrates.

Re-evolution of sexuality from parthenogenesis in oribatid mites.

Teeth in avian dinosaurs (birds).

Dewclaws in dogs.

Reappearance of prothoracic wings in insects.

Reappearance of wings on wingless stick insects and leaf insects and earwigs.

Atavistic muscles in several birds and mammals such as the beagle and the jerboa.

Extra toes in guinea pigs.

Reemergence of sexual reproduction in the flowering plant Hieracium pilosella and the
Crotoniidae family of mites.

Webbed feet in adult axolotls.

Human tails (not pseudo-tails) and supernumerary nipples in humans (and other primates).

Color blindness in humans.

Culture
Atavism is a term in Joseph Schumpeter's explanation of World War I in twentieth-century
liberal Europe. He defends the liberal international relations theory that an international
society built on commerce will avoid war because of war's destructiveness and comparative
cost. His reason for World War I is termed "atavism", in which he asserts that senescent
governments in Europe (those of the German Empire, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and
Austro-Hungarian Empire) pulled the liberal Europe into war, and that the liberal regimes of
the other continental powers did not cause it. He used this idea to say that liberalism and
commerce would continue to have a soothing effect in international relations, and that war
would not arise between nations which are connected by commercial ties. This latter idea is
very similar to the later Golden Arches theory.

University of London professor Guy Standing has identified three distinct sub-groups of the
precariat, one of which he refers to as "atavists", who long for what they see as a lost past.

Social darwinism

During the interval between the acceptance of evolution in the mid-1800s and the rise of the
modern understanding of genetics in the early 1900s, atavism was used to account for the
reappearance in an individual of a trait after several generations of absence—often called a
"throw-back". The idea that atavisms could be made to accumulate by selective breeding, or
breeding back, led to breeds such as the Heck cattle. This had been bred from ancient
landraces with selected primitive traits, in an attempt of "reviving" the aurochs, an extinct
species of wild cattle. The same notions of atavisms were used by social Darwinists, who
claimed that inferior races displayed atavistic traits, and represented more primitive traits
than other races. Both atavism's and Ernst Haeckel's recapitulation theory are related to
evolutionary progress, as development towards a greater complexity and a superior ability.In
addition, the concept of atavism as part of an individualistic explanation of the causes of
criminal deviance was popularised by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso in the
1870s. He attempted to identify physical characteristics common to criminals and labeled
those he found as atavistic, 'throw-back' traits that determined 'primitive' criminal behavior.
His statistical evidence and the closely related idea of eugenics have long since been
abandoned by the scientific community, but the concept that physical traits may affect the
likelihood of criminal or unethical behavior in a person still has some scientific support.

See also
Atavistic regression

Exaptation

Spandrel (biology)

References
External links
Bar-Maor, JA; Kesner, KM; Kaftori, JK (November 1980). "Human tails". The Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume. 62-B (4): 508–510. doi:10.1302/0301-
620x.62b4.7430236. PMID 7430236.

Photograph of an additional (third) hoof of cows

Topic: Atavism
In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic
trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations.
Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when genes for previously existing
phenotypic features are preserved in DNA, and these become expressed through a mutation
that either knocks out the dominant genes for the new traits or makes the old traits dominate
the new one. A number of traits can vary as a result of shortening of the fetal development of
a trait (neoteny) or by prolongation of the same. In such a case, a shift in the time a trait is
allowed to develop before it is fixed can bring forth an ancestral phenotype. Atavisms are
often seen as evidence of evolution.In social sciences, atavism is the tendency of reversion.
For example, people in the modern era reverting to the ways of thinking and acting of a
former time.

The word atavism is derived from the Latin atavus—a great-great-great-grandfather or, more
generally, an ancestor.

Biology
Evolutionarily traits that have disappeared phenotypically do not necessarily disappear from
an organism's DNA. The gene sequence often remains, but is inactive. Such an unused gene
may remain in the genome for many generations. As long as the gene remains intact, a fault
in the genetic control suppressing the gene can lead to it being expressed again. Sometimes,
the expression of dormant genes can be induced by artificial stimulation.
Atavisms have been observed in humans, such as with infants born with vestigial tails (called
a "coccygeal process", "coccygeal projection", or "caudal appendage"). Atavism can also be
seen in humans who possess large teeth, like those of other primates. In addition, a case of
"snake heart", the presence of "coronary circulation and myocardial architecture [that closely]
resemble those of the reptilian heart", has also been reported in medical literature. Atavism
has also recently been induced in avian dinosaur (bird) fetuses to express dormant ancestral
non-avian dinosaur (non-bird) features, including teeth.Other examples of observed atavisms
include:

Hind limbs in cetaceans.

Extra toes of the modern horse.

Reappearance of limbs in limbless vertebrates.

Re-evolution of sexuality from parthenogenesis in oribatid mites.

Teeth in avian dinosaurs (birds).

Dewclaws in dogs.

Reappearance of prothoracic wings in insects.

Reappearance of wings on wingless stick insects and leaf insects and earwigs.

Atavistic muscles in several birds and mammals such as the beagle and the jerboa.

Extra toes in guinea pigs.

Reemergence of sexual reproduction in the flowering plant Hieracium pilosella and the
Crotoniidae family of mites.

Webbed feet in adult axolotls.

Human tails (not pseudo-tails) and supernumerary nipples in humans (and other primates).

Color blindness in humans.

Culture
Atavism is a term in Joseph Schumpeter's explanation of World War I in twentieth-century
liberal Europe. He defends the liberal international relations theory that an international
society built on commerce will avoid war because of war's destructiveness and comparative
cost. His reason for World War I is termed "atavism", in which he asserts that senescent
governments in Europe (those of the German Empire, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and
Austro-Hungarian Empire) pulled the liberal Europe into war, and that the liberal regimes of
the other continental powers did not cause it. He used this idea to say that liberalism and
commerce would continue to have a soothing effect in international relations, and that war
would not arise between nations which are connected by commercial ties. This latter idea is
very similar to the later Golden Arches theory.

University of London professor Guy Standing has identified three distinct sub-groups of the
precariat, one of which he refers to as "atavists", who long for what they see as a lost past.

Social darwinism

During the interval between the acceptance of evolution in the mid-1800s and the rise of the
modern understanding of genetics in the early 1900s, atavism was used to account for the
reappearance in an individual of a trait after several generations of absence—often called a
"throw-back". The idea that atavisms could be made to accumulate by selective breeding, or
breeding back, led to breeds such as the Heck cattle. This had been bred from ancient
landraces with selected primitive traits, in an attempt of "reviving" the aurochs, an extinct
species of wild cattle. The same notions of atavisms were used by social Darwinists, who
claimed that inferior races displayed atavistic traits, and represented more primitive traits
than other races. Both atavism's and Ernst Haeckel's recapitulation theory are related to
evolutionary progress, as development towards a greater complexity and a superior ability.In
addition, the concept of atavism as part of an individualistic explanation of the causes of
criminal deviance was popularised by the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso in the
1870s. He attempted to identify physical characteristics common to criminals and labeled
those he found as atavistic, 'throw-back' traits that determined 'primitive' criminal behavior.
His statistical evidence and the closely related idea of eugenics have long since been
abandoned by the scientific community, but the concept that physical traits may affect the
likelihood of criminal or unethical behavior in a person still has some scientific support.

See also
Atavistic regression

Exaptation

Spandrel (biology)

References
External links
Bar-Maor, JA; Kesner, KM; Kaftori, JK (November 1980). "Human tails". The Journal of
Bone and Joint Surgery. British Volume. 62-B (4): 508–510. doi:10.1302/0301-
620x.62b4.7430236. PMID 7430236.

Photograph of an additional (third) hoof of cows