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Biological evolution : an introduction
2021
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Biological evolution, the theory of natural selection and of common descent, is a triumph both of human reasoning and scientific undertaking. The biological discipline of evolution contains both a chronicle of human endeavour and the story of life on Earth. This book is concerned with living forms and how they developed from 'simple and unpromising beginnings'. It considers evolution as both process and product. The author, an experienced teacher and educator, employs a historical narrative, used to convey the idea of 'change with modification' and to emphasise the relevance of evolution to contemporary bioscience. Biological evolution has now become part of the scientific orthodoxy and this accessible text will assist undergraduate students in the biological sciences within any ongoing debate. - (Cambridge Univ Pr)

Aimed at undergraduate students in the biological sciences, this book provides a narrative and cohesive account of biological evolution. It encompasses both the 'micro' details together with the 'bigger picture', offering readers an accessible and up-to-date introduction to the subject. - (Gardners)

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Table of Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Biological Evolution: The Beginnings of the Story
1(24)
The Development of Evolution as a Science
1(2)
The Years before Publication of Origin of Species
3(1)
So, What Is Evolution?
4(2)
Change and Species Formation
6(1)
Natural History and Classification
6(2)
Exploring the Development and Progress of Life on Earth
8(2)
The Galapagos Islands and Darwin's Finches: A Case Study
10(3)
The Finches
13(2)
Classification and the Galapagos Finches
15(5)
Darwin's Finches and the Origin of Species
20(2)
The Galapagos Islands and Natural Selection
22(3)
2 Reviewing the Evidence for Evolution
25(20)
Homology and Comparative Anatomy
25(4)
Embryology
29(3)
Vestigial Organs
32(3)
The Fossil Record
35(3)
Fossils and Phylogeny
38(3)
Biogeography
41(2)
Observational and Experimental Evidence
43(2)
3 Genetic Variation within Populations
45(29)
Inheritance and Variation
45(5)
Early Ideas Regarding the Continuity of Life
50(1)
Biological Inheritance and the Work of Gregor Mendel
50(3)
Mapping the Genome
53(3)
Origins and Maintenance of Variation
56(1)
Mutation
57(4)
What Sorts of Genes Are Needed by Living Things?
61(2)
Genotypic and Phenotypic Variation
63(2)
Genes in Populations
65(1)
Variation within Populations
66(4)
Variation between Populations
70(2)
Population Genetics
72(2)
4 Natural Selection and Adaptive Change
74(20)
Natural and Artificial Selection
76(4)
Selection in Populations
80(1)
Polymorphism
81(4)
Heterozygote Advantage
85(1)
Directional Selection and Local Adaptation
86(2)
Sexual Selection
88(3)
Genetic Drift and the Adaptive Landscape
91(1)
The Unit of Selection
91(3)
5 Evolution and Development
94(18)
Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)
94(2)
The Epigenetic Landscape
96(1)
Homeosis
97(1)
Hox Genes
98(2)
The Body Axes and Segmentation
100(2)
The Dorsoventral Axis
102(2)
Functional Analogy
104(1)
The History of Hox Genes
105(1)
The Divergence of Body Plans
106(2)
Homeotic Genes and Control of Development in Higher Plants
108(3)
Evolutionary Developmental Repatteming
111(1)
6 The Origins of Biodiversity
112(18)
Species Concepts
113(3)
Isolating Mechanisms
116(1)
Speciation
117(2)
Speciation through Polyploidy
119(1)
Parapatric Distribution, Speciation and Hybrid Zones
120(5)
Sympatric Speciation
125(1)
The Explosive Speciation of Cichlids
126(4)
7 Taxonomy and the Diversity of Life
130(23)
Linnaeus and Classification
131(2)
Lamarck and the Scala Naturae
133(2)
Classification and Evolution
135(1)
Chasing Ancestors
136(2)
Developing a Modern, Biological Classification
138(1)
An Objective Classification?
139(1)
Phenetics
139(3)
Cladistics
142(5)
Molecular Taxonomy
147(2)
Nomenclature
149(3)
Classification and Big Data
152(1)
8 The History and Origins of Life on Earth
153(29)
What Is Life: Characteristics of Living Things
154(2)
Origins of Life
156(4)
The First Organisms
160(1)
Origins of the Eukaryotes and the Evolution of Sex
161(3)
Multicellularity and the Higher Taxa
164(4)
The Evolution of Animals
168(9)
The Evolution of Plants
177(2)
Movement onto Land
179(3)
9 Molecules and Evolution
182(16)
The Early Earth
182(3)
Replication and the RNA World
185(1)
Gene Trees
186(4)
DNA and RNA Phylogenies
190(1)
Rates of Molecular Evolution
191(1)
Molecular Clocks
192(1)
Phylogenomics and Transposable Elements
193(2)
Lateral Gene Transfer
195(1)
Genomics and `Big Science'
196(2)
10 Human Evolution
198(25)
Looking at Mammals
199(3)
Becoming Human
202(4)
Paleobiology and the Human Lineage
206(5)
Modern Humans
211(1)
Evidence from the Human Genome
212(3)
Human Success
215(4)
Human Cultural Evolution
219(2)
Are We Still Evolving?
221(2)
11 Trends and Patterns in Evolution
223(18)
Rates of Evolution
224(2)
Measuring Rates of Evolutionary Change
226(4)
Extinction and Patterns of Mass Extinction
230(4)
Heterochrony and Life History Strategies
234(3)
Are Trends in Evolution Progressive?
237(1)
Biological Evolution As Science
238(3)
12 Questions, Debate and Controversy
241(10)
Questions in Evolutionary Biology
241(5)
Life's Continuing Existence
246(1)
Evolution and Religion
247(3)
From So Simple a Beginning
250(1)
References 251(4)
Recommended Reading 255(7)
List of Figure Credits 262(2)
List of Chapter Reviewers 264(1)
Index 265

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