Ocupation: Paleontologist
Life: September 10, 1941 - May 20, 2002
Birthday: September 10
Death: May 20
There is no gene "for" such unambiguous bits of morphology as your left kneecap or your fingernail. [...] Hundreds of genes contribute to the building of most body parts and their action is channeled through a kaleidoscopic series of environmental influences: embryonic and postnatal, internal and external. Parts are not translated genes, and selection doesn't even work directly on parts.
source: Stephen Jay Gould (2010). “The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History”, p.91, W. W. Norton & Company
topic: Environmental, Body, Action, Environmental Influences, Morphology