The Inheritance of Niches

Abstract

The study of genetics overshadows that of exogenetics for three reasons. First, no single unit of exogenetic inheritance exists. Even the most central feature of exogenetic inheritance, the concept of something “outside” the genes, lacks clarity. That something is the environment, but how do we define the environment? To some, the term stands for the complex of biotic elements that surrounds all organisms. To others, the term refers to a particular species’ or population’s habitat.