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The Epistemic Value of the Living Fossils Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Aja Watkins
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Abstract

Living fossils, taxa with similar members now and in the deep past, have recently come under scrutiny. Those who think the concept should be retained have argued for its epistemic and normative utility. This article extends the epistemic utility of the living fossils concept to include ways in which a taxon’s living fossil status can serve as evidence for other claims about that taxon. I will use insights from developmental biology to refine these claims. Insofar as these considerations demonstrate the epistemic utility of the living fossils concept, they support retaining the concept and using it in biological research.

Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 88 , Issue 5 , December 2021 , pp. 1221 - 1233
Copyright
Copyright 2021 by the Philosophy of Science Association. All rights reserved.

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Footnotes

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To contact the author, please write to: Boston University; e-mail: ajawatki@bu.edu.

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