Kry [PDF] The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene
By Richard Dawkins
In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins crystallized the gene's eye view of evolution
developed by W.D. Hamilton and others. The book provoked widespread and heated
debate. Written in part as a response, The Extended Phenotype gave a deeper
clarification of the central concept of the gene as the unit of selection; but it did
much more besides. In it, Dawkins extended the gene's eye view to argue that the
genes that sit within an organism have an influence that reaches out beyond the
visible traits in that body - the phenotype - to the wider environment, which can
include other individuals. So, for instance, the genes of the beaver drive it to gather
twigs to produce the substantial physical structure of a dam; and the genes of the
cuckoo chick produce effects that manipulate the behaviour of the host bird, making
it nurture the intruder as one of its own. This notion of the extended phenotype has
proved to be highly influential in the way we understand evolution and the natural
world.
