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Fifty years after Enlow and Brown's Comparative histological study of fossil and recent bone tissues (1956–1958): A review of Professor Donald H. Enlow's contribution to papaeohistology and comparative histology of bone

Armand de RICQLÈS

en Comptes Rendus Palevol 6 (8) - Pages 591-601

Published on 31 December 2007

Fifty years after the publication of Enlow and Brown's seminal paper (1956–1958), this historical analysis of Professor Donald H. Enlow's works emphasizes their influence on the evolution of palaeohistology, comparative bone histology, and bone biology in general. Comparative analysis of recent and fossil bone tissues has shown the great variability of bone at the tissue level (histodiversity). Historically, Enlow's works have greatly influenced a shift in the reinterpretation of the causes of bone histodiversity, from phylogenetic to more functional (ontogenetic) explanations. This allows us to consider the issue of complex causalities in evolutionary biology.


Keywords:

History of sciences, Bone histology, Palaeohistology, Bone biology, Evolution

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