Alessandro Minelli (born 20 December 1948) is an Italian biologist, formerly a professor of
zoology
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
in the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of the
University of Padova
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, mainly working on
evo-devo subjects.
Biography
Alessandro Minelli studied Natural Sciences at the
University of Padova
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
1966–70 with a master's degree in 1970. From 1987 to 2011, Minelli was a Full Professor of Zoology at the University of Padova.
Activity in international organisations
*International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (member since 1989, president 1995–2001)
*European Society for Evolutionary Biology (vice-president 1997–99)
*Editorial activity in several zoological journals.
Academic memberships
*Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze, detta dei LX
*Accademia Nazionale Italiana di Entomologia
*Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti
*Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere
*Accademia Olimpica
*Ateneo di Treviso
*Honorary Fellow of the Accademia Gioenia di Catania.
*Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London.
Scientific contributions
Minelli is known for his studies in
evolutionary developmental biology
Evolutionary developmental biology, informally known as evo-devo, is a field of biological research that compares the developmental biology, developmental processes of different organisms to infer how developmental processes evolution, evolved. ...
, or evo-devo. His main contributions are about the conceptual foundations of this discipline.
[ In his search for an intellectual framework common to evolutionary biology and developmental biology, he has strongly argued against the widespread adultocentrism,]embryonic development
In developmental biology, animal embryonic development, also known as animal embryogenesis, is the developmental stage of an animal embryo. Embryonic development starts with the fertilization of an egg cell (ovum) by a sperm, sperm cell (spermat ...
, the approach defended by Minelli is strongly rooted in comparative morphology
Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in the anatomy of different species. It is closely related to evolutionary biology and phylogeny (the evolution of species).
The science began in the classical era, continuing in t ...
and aims to extend to postembryonic development. His approach is based on revisiting the traditional concepts of homology. According to Minelli, the homology relationships between two structures is necessarily limited to selected features of those structures, thus requiring the adoption of a factorial or combinatorial concept of homology.[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer.
Indexing
The journal is indexed in:
* EMBiology
*Journal Citation Reports
*Scopus ...]
'' 9 (3): 340–347.
Minelli has introduced new concepts, such as axis paramorphism