Levels of selection in biofilms: multispecies biofilms are not evolutionary individuals

Biology and Philosophy 31 (2):191-212 (2016)
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Abstract

Microbes are generally thought of as unicellular organisms, but we know that many microbes live as parts of biofilms—complex, surface-attached microbial communities numbering millions of cells. Some authors have recently argued in favour of reconceiving biofilms as biological entities in their own right. In particular, some have claimed that multispecies biofilms are evolutionary individuals : 10126–10132 2015). Against this view, I defend the conservative consensus that selection acts primarily upon microbial cells

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Ellen Clarke
University of Leeds

References found in this work

Darwinian Populations and Natural Selection.Peter Godfrey-Smith - 2009 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Evolution and the levels of selection.Samir Okasha - 2006 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Evolution and the Levels of Selection.Samir Okasha - 2009 - Critica 41 (123):162-170.
Philosophy of Microbiology.Maureen O'Malley - 2014 - Cambridge University Press.

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