In Search of the Causes of Evolution: From Field Observations to Mechanisms

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Evolutionary biology has witnessed breathtaking advances in recent years. Some of its most exciting insights have come from the crossover of disciplines as varied as paleontology, molecular biology, ecology, and genetics. This book brings together many of today's pioneers in evolutionary biology to describe the latest advances and explain why a cross-disciplinary and integrated approach to research questions is so essential.

Contributors discuss the origins of biological diversity, mechanisms of evolutionary change at the molecular and developmental levels, morphology and behavior, and the ecology of adaptive radiations and speciation. They highlight the mutual dependence of organisms and their environments, and reveal the different strategies today's researchers are using in the field and laboratory to explore this interdependence. Peter and Rosemary Grant--renowned for their influential work on Darwin's finches in the Galápagos--provide concise introductions to each section and identify the key questions future research needs to address.

In addition to the editors, the contributors are Myra Awodey, Christopher N. Balakrishnan, Rowan D. H. Barrett, May R. Berenbaum, Paul M. Brakefield, Philip J. Currie, Scott V. Edwards, Douglas J. Emlen, Joshua B. Gross, Hopi E. Hoekstra, Richard Hudson, David Jablonski, David T. Johnston, Mathieu Joron, David Kingsley, Andrew H. Knoll, Mimi A. R. Koehl, June Y. Lee, Jonathan B. Losos, Isabel Santos Magalhaes, Albert B. Phillimore, Trevor Price, Dolph Schluter, Ole Seehausen, Clifford J. Tabin, John N. Thompson, and David B. Wake.

Author(s): Peter R. Grant, B. Rosemary Grant
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Year: 2010

Language: English
Pages: 411
City: Princeton

Cover Page
Half-title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
List of Contributors
Preface
Introduction to Section I: The Origins of Biological Diversity
Chapter One: The Big Picture: A Tripartite View of Life and Environments through Time
Chapter Two: Macroevolutionary Trends in Time and Space
Chapter Three: Dinosaurs Live!
Chapter Four: Phylogeography and Phylogenetics in the Nuclear Age
Introduction to Section II
Chapter Five: The Flexibility of Butterfly Wing Color Patterns and Evolution in Morphospace
Chapter Six: Genetics, Geology, and Miracles
Chapter Seven: Evolutionary Genetics of Pigmentation Loss in the Blind Mexican Cavefish
Chapter Eight: A Developmental View of Exaggerated Growth and Conditional Expression in the Weapons of Sexual Selection
Introduction to Section III
Chapter Nine: How Does Morphology Affect Performance in Variable Environments?
Chapter Ten: In Search of the Elusive Behavior Gene
Chapter Eleven: There Must Be Finches—Charles Darwin, Prickly Pears, and Pollination Biology
Chapter Twelve: The Adaptive Radiation of Coevolving Prodoxid Moths and Their Host Plants: Greya Moths and Yucca Moths
Introduction to Section IV
Chapter Thirteen: Ecological and Geographical Influences on the Allopatric Phase of Island Speciation
Chapter Fourteen: Geographical Mode and Evolutionary Mechanism of Ecological Speciation in Cichlid Fish
Chapter Fifteen: A Tale of Two Radiations: Similarities and Differences in the Evolutionary Diversification of Darwin’s Finches and Greater Antillean Anolis Lizards
Chapter Sixteen: Clarifying the Mechanisms of Evolution in Sticklebacks Using Field Studies of Natural Selection on Genes
Chapter Seventeen: The Book and the Future: Perspective and Prospective
Chapter Eighteen: A Festival for Rosemary and Peter Grant
Index