This volume is a collection of the some of the most significant lectures that well-known experts presented at our two international "summits on evolution" (2005, 2009) as updated and revised chapters. The meetings took place on one of the large islands of the Galapagos archipelago (San Cristobal) at GAIAS (Galapagos Institute for the Arts and Sciences) of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador. The main goal of the two Galapagos Summits on Evolution has been to bring together scientists and graduate students engaged in the study of evolution, from life's origin to its current diversity. Because of their historical significance, the Galapagos are a unique venue for promoting comprehensive research on evolution and ecology and to make the research results available to students and teachers everywhere, but especially from developing countries. As shown by the enthusiastic attendance at both summits and the many suggestions to keep them continuing, the meetings have opened new opportunities for students from Ecuador and other Latin American countries to be inspired by some of the most brilliant minds in evolutionary science.

Michael Ruse offers a new analysis of the often troubled relationship between science and religion. Arguing against both extremes - in one corner, the New Atheists; in the other, the Creationists and their offspring the Intelligent Designers - he asserts that science is the highest source of human inquiry. Yet, by its very nature and its deep reliance on metaphor, science restricts itself and is unable to answer basic, significant questions about the meaning of the universe and humankind's place within it: why is there something rather than nothing? What is the meaning of it all? Ruse shows that one can legitimately be a skeptic about these questions, and yet why it is open for a Christian, or member of any faith, to offer answers. Scientists, he concludes, should be proud of their achievements but modest about their scope. Christians should be confident of their mission but respectful of the successes of science.

Howler monkeys (genus Alouatta) comprise 12 species of leaf-eating New World monkeys that range from southern Mexico through northern Argentina. This genus is the most widespread of any New World primate and can be found to inhabit a range of forest types from undisturbed rainforest to severely anthropogenically-impacted forest fragments. Although there have been many studies on individual species of howler monkeys, this book is the first comprehensive volume that places information on howler behavior and biology within a theoretical framework of ecological and social adaptability. This is the first of two companion volumes devoted to the genus Alouatta. This volume: * Provides new and original empirical and theoretical research on howler monkeys * Presents evolutionary and adaptive explanations for the ecological success of howler monkeys * Examines howler behavior and ecology within a comparative framework These goals are achieved in a collection of chapters written by a distinguished group of scientists on the evolutionary history, paleontology, taxonomy, genetics, morphology, physiology, and anatomy of howlers. The volume also contains chapters on howlers as vectors of infectious diseases, ethnoprimatology, and conservation.

This book provides an introduction to the latest gene mapping techniques and their applications in biomedical research and evolutionary biology. It especially highlights the advances made in large-scale genomic sequencing. Results of studies that illustrate how the new approaches have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of complex phenotypes including multifactorial diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity), anatomic characteristics (e.g., the craniofacial complex), and neurological and behavioral phenotypes (e.g., human brain structure and nonhuman primate behavior) are presented. Topics covered include linkage and association methods, gene expression, copy number variation, next-generation sequencing, comparative genomics, population structure, and a discussion of the Human Genome Project. Further included are discussions of the use of statistical genetic and genetic epidemiologic techniques to decipher the genetic architecture of normal and disease-related complex phenotypes using data from both humans and non-human primates.

This book is divided in two parts, the first of which shows how, beyond paleontology and systematics, macroevolutionary theories apply key insights from ecology and biogeography, developmental biology, biophysics, molecular phylogenetics and even the sociocultural sciences to explain evolution in deep time. In the second part, the phenomenon of macroevolution is examined with the help of real life-history case studies on the evolution of eukaryotic sex, the formation of anatomical form and body-plans, extinction and speciation events of marine invertebrates, hominin evolution and species conservation ethics. The book brings together leading experts, who explain pivotal concepts such as Punctuated Equilibria, Stasis, Developmental Constraints, Adaptive Radiations, Habitat Tracking, Turnovers, (Mass) Extinctions, Species Sorting, Major Transitions, Trends and Hierarchies – key premises that allow macroevolutionary epistemic frameworks to transcend microevolutionary theories that focus on genetic variation, selection, migration and fitness. Along the way, the contributing authors review ongoing debates and current scientific challenges; detail new and fascinating scientific tools and techniques that allow us to cross the classic borders between disciplines; demonstrate how their theories make it possible to extend the Modern Synthesis; present guidelines on how the macroevolutionary field could be further developed; and provide a rich view of just how it was that life evolved across time and space. In short, this book is a must-read for active scholars and because the technical aspects are fully explained, it is also accessible for non-specialists. Understanding evolution requires a solid grasp of above-population phenomena. Species are real biological individuals and abiotic factors impact the future course of evolution. Beyond observation, when the explanation of macroevolution is the goal, we need both evidence and theory that enable us to explain and interpret how life evolves at the grand scale.

This root-and-branch re-evaluation of Darwin’s concept of sexual selection tackles the subject from historical, epistemological and theoretical perspectives. Contributions from a wealth of disciplines have been marshaled for this volume, with key figures in behavioural ecology, philosophy, and the history of science adding to its wide-ranging relevance. Updating the reader on the debate currently live in behavioural ecology itself on the centrality of sexual selection, and with coverage of developments in the field of animal aesthetics, the book details the current state of play, while other chapters trace the history of sexual selection from Darwin to today and inquire into the neurobiological bases for partner choices and the comparisons between the hedonic brain in human and non-human animals. Welcome space is given to the social aspects of sexual selection, particularly where Darwin drew distinctions between eager males and coy females and rationalized this as evolutionary strategy. Also explored are the current definition of sexual selection (as opposed to natural selection) and its importance in today’s biological research, and the impending critique of the theory from the nascent field of animal aesthetics. As a comprehensive assessment of the current health, or otherwise, of Darwin’s theory, 140 years after the publication of his Descent of Man, the book offers a uniquely rounded view that asks whether ‘sexual selection’ is in itself a progressive or reactionary notion, even as it explores its theoretical relevance in the technical biological study of the twenty-first century.

This volume includes treatments of systematics and related topics for both fungi and fungus-like organisms in four eukaryotic supergroups, as well as specialized chapters on nomenclature, techniques and evolution. These organisms are of great interest to mycologists, plant pathologists and others, including those interested in the animal parasitic Microsporidia. Our knowledge of the systematics and evolution of fungi has made great strides since the first edition of this volume, largely driven by molecular phylogenetic analyses. Consensus among mycologists has led to a stable systematic treatment that has since become widely adopted and is incorporated into this second edition, along with a great deal of new information on evolution and ecology. The systematic chapters cover occurrence, distribution, economic importance, morphology and ultrastructure, development of taxonomic theory, classification, and maintenance and culture. Other chapters deal with nomenclatural changes necessitated by revisions of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants, including the elimination of separate names for asexual states, as well as methods for preservation of cultures and specimens, character evolution and methods for ultrastructural study, the fungal fossil record, and the impact of whole genomes on fungal studies.  

A savory account of how the pursuit of delicious foods shaped human evolution Nature, it has been said, invites us to eat by appetite and rewards by flavor. But what exactly are flavors? Why are some so pleasing while others are not? Delicious is a supremely entertaining foray into the heart of such questions. With generous helpings of warmth and wit, Rob Dunn and Monica Sanchez offer bold new perspectives on why food is enjoyable and how the pursuit of delicious flavors has guided the course of human history. They consider the role that flavor may have played in the invention of the first tools, the extinction of giant mammals, the evolution of the world's most delicious and fatty fruits, the creation of beer, and our own sociality. Along the way, you will learn about the taste receptors you didn't even know you had, the best way to ferment a mastodon, the relationship between Paleolithic art and cheese, and much more. Blending irresistible storytelling with the latest science, Delicious is a deep history of flavor that will transform the way you think about human evolution and the gustatory pleasures of the foods we eat.

The last decade has witnessed remarkable discoveries and advances in our understanding of the tool using behaviour of animals. Wild populations of capuchin monkeys have been observed to crack open nuts with stone tools, similar to the skills of chimpanzees and humans. Corvids have been observed to use and make tools that rival in complexity the behaviours exhibited by the great apes. Excavations of the nut cracking sites of chimpanzees have been dated to around 4-5 thousand years ago. Tool Use in Animals collates these and many more contributions by leading scholars in psychology, biology and anthropology, along with supplementary online materials, into a comprehensive assessment of the cognitive abilities and environmental forces shaping these behaviours in taxa as distantly related as primates and corvids.

Evolution - both the fact that it occurred and the theory describing the mechanisms by which it occurred - is an intrinsic and central component in modern biology. Theodosius Dobzhansky captures this well in the much-quoted title of his 1973 paper 'Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution'. The correctness of this assertion is even more obvious today: philosophers of biology and biologists agree that the fact of evolution is undeniable and that the theory of evolution explains that fact. Such a theory has far-reaching implications. In this volume, eleven distinguished scholars address the conceptual, metaphysical and epistemological richness of the theory and its ethical and religious impact, exploring topics including DNA barcoding, three grand challenges of human evolution, functionalism, historicity, design, evolution and development, and religion and secular humanism. The volume will be of great interest to those studying philosophy of biology and evolutionary biology.

Evolution is just a theory, isn't it? What is a scientific theory anyway? Don't scientists prove things? What is the difference between a fact, a hypothesis and a theory in science? How does scientific thinking differ from religious thinking? Why are most leading scientists atheists? Are science and religion compatible? Why are there so many different religious beliefs but only one science? What is the evidence for evolution? Why does evolution occur? If you are interested in any of these questions and have some knowledge of biology, this book is for you.

This book develops and tests an ecological and evolutionary theory of the causes of human values—the core beliefs that guide people’s cognition and behavior—and their variation across time and space around the world. We call this theory the parasite-stress theory of values or the parasite-stress theory of sociality. The evidence we present in our book indicates that both a wide span of human affairs and major aspects of human cultural diversity can be understood in light of variable parasite (infectious disease) stress and the range of value systems evoked by variable parasite stress. The same evidence supports the hypothesis that people have psychological adaptations that function to adopt values dependent upon local infectious-disease adversity. The authors have identified key variables, variation in infectious disease adversity and in the core values it evokes, for understanding these topics and in novel and encompassing ways. Although the human species is the focus in the book, evidence presented in the book shows that the parasite-stress theory of sociality informs other topics in ecology and evolutionary biology such as variable family organization and speciation processes and biological diversity in general in non-human animals.

As a species, we are currently experiencing dramatic shifts in our lifestyle, family structure, health, and global contact. Evolutionary Anthropology provides a powerful theoretical framework to study such changes, revealing how current environments and legacies of past selection shape human diversity. This book is the first major review of the emerging field of Applied Evolutionary Anthropology bringing together the work of an international group of evolutionary scientists, addressing many of the major public health and social issues of this century. Through a series of case studies that span both rural and urban situations in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, each chapter addresses topics such as natural resource management, health service delivery, population growth and the emergence of new family structures, dietary, and co-operative behaviours. The research presented identifies the great, largely untapped, potential that Applied Evolutionary Anthropology holds to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of effective social and public health policy. This book will be of interest to policy-makers and applied researchers, along with academics and students across the biological and social sciences.

Much of Charles Darwin's groundbreaking work as an evolutionary biologist stemmed from his study of birds. It is universally acknowledged that Darwin's observation of bird groups and species like the Galapagos finches, mockingbirds, and rock doves was critical to the development of his theories on natural selection, evolution, and sexual selection. The significant number of diverse birds that Darwin covered in his published works represents a most substantial ornithological contribution. His major books alone contain reference to and consideration of almost 500 bird species, as well as interesting and pertinent discussion of over 100 ornithological topics. "Charles Darwin's Birds" is a comprehensive treatment of Darwin's work as an ornithologist. Clifford Frith discusses every ornithological topic and bird species that Darwin researched, providing a complete historical survey of his published writing on birds. Through this, we learn how Darwin became an increasingly skilled and eventually exceptional ornithologist, and how his relationships grew with contemporary scientists like John Gould. It examines how Darwin was influenced by birds, and how the major themes of his research developed through his study of them. The book also features 4 appendices, which contain brief accounts of every bird species Darwin wrote about, basic ornithological information about each of the species, and a listing of where the species appears in Darwin's work.

Carina Klein examines the quality of the existing modern ammonoid zonation based on three methods, being Unitary Associations (UA), Constrained Optimization (CONOP) as well as Ranking and Scaling (RASC). The author sets out which of these three methods is best suitable to refine these zones. The results obtained are compared to each other with regard to ammonoid succession and resolution as well as with empirical data from selected reference sections. The analysis reveals that the UA and RASC methods are the most suitable since the results best mirror the empirical data from the single outcrops.

Bryophytes, which are important constituents of ecosystems globally and often dominate carbon and water dynamics at high latitudes and elevations, were also among the pioneers of terrestrial photosynthesis. Consequently, in addition to their present day ecological value, modern representatives of these groups contain the legacy of adaptations that led to the greening of Earth. This volume brings together experts on bryophyte photosynthesis whose research spans the genome and cell through whole plant and ecosystem function and combines that with historical perspectives on the role of algal, bryophyte and vascular plant ancestors on terrestrialization of the Earth. The eighteen well-illustrated chapters reveal unique physiological approaches to achieving carbon balance and dealing with environmental limitations and stresses that present an alternative, yet successful strategy for land plants.

The study of animal communication has led to significant progress in our general understanding of motor and sensory systems, evolution, and speciation. However, one often neglected aspect is that signal exchange in every modality is constrained by noise, be it in the transmission channel or in the nervous system. This book analyses whether and how animals can cope with such constraints, and explores the implications that noise has for our understanding of animal communication. It is written by leading biologists working on different taxa including insects, fish, amphibians, lizards, birds, and mammals. In addition to this broad taxonomic approach, the chapters also cover a wide array of research disciplines: from the mechanisms of signal production and perception, to the behavioural ecology of signalling, the evolution of animal communication, and conservation issues. This volume promotes the integration of the knowledge gained by the diverse approaches to the study of animal communication and, at the same time, highlights particularly interesting fields of current and future research.

This volume is part of the definitive edition of letters written by and to Charles Darwin, the most celebrated naturalist of the nineteenth century. Notes and appendixes put these fascinating and wide-ranging letters in context, making the letters accessible to both scholars and general readers. Darwin depended on correspondence to collect data from all over the world, and to discuss his emerging ideas with scientific colleagues, many of whom he never met in person. The letters are published chronologically: Volume 21 includes letters from 1873, the year in which Darwin received responses to his work on human and animal expression. Also in this year, Darwin continued his work on carnivorous plants and plant movement, finding unexpected similarities between the plant and animal kingdoms, raised a subscription for his friend Thomas Henry Huxley, and decided to employ a scientific secretary for the first time - his son Francis.

How did the zebra really get its stripes, and the giraffe its long neck? What is the science behind camel humps, leopard spots, and other animal oddities? Such questions have fascinated us for centuries, but the expanding field of evo-devo (evolutionary developmental biology) is now providing, for the first time, a wealth of insights and answers. Taking inspiration from Kipling's 'Just So Stories', this book weaves emerging insights from evo-devo into a narrative that provides startling explanations for the origin and evolution of traits across the animal kingdom. Held's unique and engaging style makes this narrative both enlightening and entertaining, guiding students and researchers through even complex concepts and encouraging a fuller understanding of the latest developments in the field. The first five chapters cover the first bilaterally symmetric animals, flies, butterflies, snakes, and cheetahs. A final chapter surveys recent results about a menagerie of other animals.

Astronomer Peter Linde takes the reader through the story of the search for extraterrestrial life in a captivating and thought-provoking way, specifically addressing the new research that is currently devoted towards discovering other planets with life. He discusses the methods used to detect possible signals from other civilizations and the ways that the space sciences are changing as a result of this new field. "Are we alone?" is a mystery that has forever fascinated mankind, gaining momentum by scientists since the 1995 discovery of the existence of exoplanets began to inspire new ways of thinking in astronomy. Here, Linde tries to answer many philosophical questions that derive from this area of research: Is humanity facing a change of paradigm, that we are not unique as intelligent beings? Is it possible to communicate with others out there, and even if we can-should we?

Originally published in 1933, this book is a culmination of a lifetime of research by Hans Friedrich Gadow into the evolution of the vertebrae. Gadow outlines the various forms of vertebral development as a guide to larger and more general questions on the morphological scheme of the evolution of vertebrate creatures, and uses plentiful diagrams, photographs and reconstructions to trace spinal development. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of science.

In this worldwide survey, Clive Gamble explores the evolution of the human imagination, without which we would not have become a global species. He sets out to determine the cognitive and social basis for our imaginative capacity and traces the evidence back into deep human history. He argues that it was the imaginative ability to 'go beyond' and to create societies where people lived apart yet stayed in touch that made us such effective world settlers. To make his case Gamble brings together information from a wide range of disciplines: psychology, cognitive science, archaeology, palaeoanthropology, archaeogenetics, geography, quaternary science and anthropology. He presents a novel deep history that combines the archaeological evidence for fossil hominins with the selective forces of Pleistocene climate change, engages with the archaeogeneticists' models for population dispersal and displacement, and ends with the Europeans' rediscovery of the deep history settlement of the Earth.

Evolution has, ever since its inception, been one of the most ideologically fraught fields in all of science. It has given birth to the myth about biological racial "types," with distinct rankings of "genetic superiority". Evolution has always been mistrusted by religious fundamentalists, contributing to a rise in creationist education that dovetails with the mass scientific illiteracy we see today. And today the coronavirus is mutating into ever more dangerous strands because huge swaths of the population have rejected the science that predicted this outcome if people remained unvaccinated. With so much fear and misunderstanding, it is crucial to set the record straight. Enter evolutionary biologist Joseph Graves. In A Voice in the Wilderness, he makes the case that widespread understanding of evolution is crucial to solving all these problems. Graves shows how the science of evolution can lead us to new paths of achieving social unity. He refutes common, pseudoscientific misconceptions that undergird racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, and more-all issues on which many perceive evolutionary biology to be a reactionary force. He shows how evolution can either make pandemics better, or-if its lessons are unheeded-worse. And he tackles the political and religious objections to the study of evolution as well. Graves' own experience powers much of the narrative. As a pioneering Black biologist, a leftist, and a Christian, Graves uses his personal story from a child of the Jim Crow south to a major researcher leader in his field to rewrite his field-and show how it can be a force not for reaction, but for justice. Provocative and timely, A Voice in the Wilderness is at once a powerful work of scientific antiracism and a moving history of a trailblazing life.

This volume handles in various perspectives the concept of function and the nature of functional explanations, topics much discussed since two major and conflicting accounts have been raised by Larry Wright and Robert Cummins' papers in the 1970s. Here, both Wright's 'etiological theory of functions' and Cummins' 'systemic' conception of functions are refined and elaborated in the light of current scientific practice, with papers showing how the 'etiological' theory faces several objections and may in reply be revisited, while its counterpart became ever more sophisticated, as researchers discovered fresh applications for it. Relying on a firm knowledge of the original positions and debates, this volume presents cutting-edge research evincing the complexities that today pertain in function theory in various sciences. Alongside original papers from authors central to the controversy, work by emerging researchers taking novel perspectives will add to the potential avenues to be followed in the future. Not only does the book adopt no a priori assumptions about the scope of functional explanations, it also incorporates material from several very different scientific domains, e.g. neurosciences, ecology, or technology. In general, functions are implemented in mechanisms; and functional explanations in biology have often an essential relation with natural selection. These two basic claims set the stage for this book's coverage of investigations concerning both 'functional' explanations, and the 'metaphysics' of functions. It casts new light on these claims, by testing them through their confrontation with scientific developments in biology, psychology, and recent developments concerning the metaphysics of realization. Rather than debating a single theory of functions, this book presents the richness of philosophical issues raised by functional discourse throughout the various sciences.

Friedrich Nietzsche's complex connection to Charles Darwin has been much explored, and both scholarly and popular opinions have tended to assume a convergence in their thinking. In this study, Dirk Johnson challenges that assumption and takes seriously Nietzsche's own explicitly stated 'anti-Darwinism'. He argues for the importance of Darwin for the development of Nietzsche's philosophy, but he places emphasis on the antagonistic character of their relationship and suggests that Nietzsche's mature critique against Darwin represents the key to understanding his broader (anti-)Darwinian position. He also offers an original reinterpretation of the Genealogy of Morals, a text long considered sympathetic to Darwinian naturalism, but which he argues should be taken as Nietzsche's most sophisticated critique of both Darwin and his followers. His book will appeal to all who are interested in the philosophy of Nietzsche and its cultural context.