Calcott, Brett. “Alternative patterns of explanation for major transitions.” The major transitions in evolution revisited (2011): 35-51.
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Two central claims in Maynard-Smith and Száthmary’s book are that (a) some events in
evolutionary history are special because they changed what was subsequently possible to
evolve, and (b) these events share many similar properties. The goal in this chapter is to
explore this second claim; to assess what these claims of similarity amount to, and how and
why we can make them.