Pretty good article, though "Darwin was Wrong" is a cheap misleading headline. "Tree of Life Uprooted" is slightly better but technically also misleading because HGT and other mechanisms don't tell us that species are no longer related in a discernable historical pattern, they tell us that the branches are looking increasingly less like a nicely pruned sycamore and more like a web of tangled brambles, at least in many spots.

"What Really Drives Evolution?" would have been my choice if I wanted to sensationalize the point. This speaks somewhat to the point that Fred and I discussed earlier regarding Will Provine. Mutations are not really keeping their traditional status as the sole or perhaps even primary drivers of evolutionary novelty, and "selection" fails to carry the rest of the burden on its own, as powerful an idea (or "tautology") as it has turned out to be. A number of notable folks have long pointed that out, sometimes being excorciated for it. Mayr (and Gould) were at pains at times to emphasize the role that behavior plays in driving evolutionary change. Various folks pushed the endosymbiosis and horizontal gene transfer ideas against determined resistance.

It's good to see the conversation changing to one that accepts a broader view of evolution, although we take some unfortunate noise with that new conversation as well, and sensationalistic journalism mostly just encourages the noise.

kind regards,

Todd