Mammals, the measure of success? The legacy of ‘progress’ in natural sciences

Frameworks of progress and hierarchy have had a strong and longstanding influence over natural history. While scientists today claim that their ideas of evolution have moved on from notions of advancement, scales, hierarchies and ‘progress’, these outlooks have nevertheless remained stubbornly persistent in their language and interpretations. In this paper, we apply insights from the fields of palaeontology and history of science to address the origin and persistence of ideas of progress in evolution. We ask why notions of progress have been so entrenched in both scholarly and public debates, and in what circumstances they have been accepted or rejected. What is the impact and legacy of this for science and science communication? Phrases like ‘evolutionary success’ and ‘most successful group’ are still commonly used, but what do they actually mean, and what values have been attached to them? How do we measure this success, or should we be using such terms at all?