Court jester hypothesis

The court jester hypothesis is used in reference to the idea that abiotic forces (including climate), rather than biotic competition between species, function as a major driving force behind the processes in evolution which produce speciation. In evolutionary theory, the court-jester hypothesis contrasts the Red Queen hypothesis.

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The term "Court Jester hypothesis" was coined by Anthony Barnosky in 1999 in allusion to the Red Queen hypothesis. In a 2001 paper on the subject, Barnosky uses the term without citation, suggesting that he is the one who coined it. Westfall and Millar attribute the term to him (citing the 2001 paper) in a paper of their own from 2004. Michael Benton also credits Barnosky with coining the phrase.

Since 2001, many researchers in evolution (such as Tracy Aze, Anthony Barnosky, Michael J. Benton, Douglas Erwin, Thomas Ezard, Sergey Gravilets, J.B.C. Jackson, Paul N. Pearson, Andy Purvis, Robert D. Westfall, and Constance I. Millar) have started to use the term "Court Jester hypothesis" to describe the view that evolution at a macro scale is driven by abiotic factors more than the biotic competition called the Red Queen hypothesis.

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