J. B. S. Haldane (1892-64) was one of the scientific giants of the 20th century. A polymath who made important contributions to sciences ranging from physiology to genetics and biochemistry, he was also a highly skilled writer and an extraordinary character - brilliant, witty, i…
"Xiaoming Wang has spent the past 20 years studying the evolutionary history of the family Canidae, and Richard H. Tedford is well known for having established the modern framework for the evolutionary relationship of canids. Combining their research with Mauricio Anton's impecc…
Evolutionary biology has long sought to explain how new traits and new species arise. Darwin maintained that competition is key to understanding this biodiversity and held that selection acting to minimize competition causes competitors to become increasingly different, thereby…
Of what use is evolutionary science to society? Can evolutionary thinking provide us with the tools to better understand and even make positive changes to the world? Addressing key questions about the development of evolutionary thinking, this book explores the interaction betwe…
This book is a reference to the major subjects and key concepts in evolutionary biology, from genes to mass extinctions. The book contains some 100 articles on the most important topics in seven major areas: phylogenetics and the history of life; selection and adaptation; evolut…
Comprehensive guide to the essentials of evolutionary biology. In 370 original articles written by leading experts, it surveys essential concepts and theories, presents methods, models, and findings, and discusses both the history of the field and current controversies.
The concepts of evolution and complexity theory have become part of the intellectual ether permeating the life sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and more recently, management science and economics. In this book the author synthesizes core concepts from across discipl…
'Evolution and Emergence' is a collection of essays by experts in the field, exploring how nature works to produce systems of increasing complexity from simple components, and how our understanding of this phenomenon of emergence can lead us to a deeper appreciation of both our …
In this book, George McGhee describes the ubiquity of the phenomenon of convergent evolution and connects it directly to the concept of evolutionary constraint--the idea that the number of evolutionary pathways available to life are not endless, but quite limited. Convergent ev…
The origin of species, or speciation, the "mystery of mysteries", as Charles Darwin called it, is an issue at the very heart of evolutionary biology, critical to understanding the mechanisms behind the great diversity of life around us. This book is centered around three major r…
The purpose of this book is to present a new mechanistic theory of mutation-driven evolution based on recent advances in genomics and evolutionary developmental biology. The theory asserts, perhaps somewhat controversially, that the driving force behind evolution is mutation, w…
Publisher Description (unedited publisher data) Though only two elephant species remain alive today, the Proboscidea were one of the great mammalian orders of the Cenozoic. Their success through the ages is reflected by their morphological and taxonomic diversity, their nearly w…
Proposes an approach to evolution that is more in harmony with modern science than Darwinism or neo-Darwinism.
Most people who have taken a biology course in the past 50 years are familiar with the work of David Lack, but few remember his name. Almost all general biology texts produced during that period have a figure showing the beak size differences among the finches of the Galapagos I…
The Darwinian theory of evolution is itself evolving and this book presents the details of the core of modern Darwinism and its latest developmental directions. The authors present current scientific work addressing theoretical problems and challenges in four sections, beginning…
In this book the author traces how familiar features of plants evolved sequentially over hundreds of millions of years as various environmental challenges and opportunities were met. This chronological narrative begins with the origin of photosynthesis and the rise of cyanobacte…
Why do we think that we can understand animal voices - such as the barking of a pet dog, the meows of the family cat? Why do we think of deep voices as dominant and high voices as submissive. This book presents a thorough exploration into how acoustically conveyed emotions are g…
"This textbook examines quantitative models and methods in ecology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. It explores the core concepts shared by these related fields using tools and practical skills such as experimental design, generating phylogenies, basic…
Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by analyzing the ecological factors that shape age-specific schedules of growth, reproduction, and survival and by investigating the trade-offs that constrain the evolution of these traits. A…
What are the evolutionary mechanisms and ecological implications behind a pollinator choosing its favourite flower? Sixty-five million years of evolution has created the complex and integrated system which we see today and understanding the interactions involved is key to enviro…
