Asexual reproduction is found in many taxonomic groups and considerable effort has been directed by biologists towards understanding its mechanisms, evolution and ecological significance. This research monograph, which is the culmination of several years of research by the author, offers a though-provoking contribution to this debate. It is primarily aimed at biologists undertaking research into the evolution, genetic control and ecological costs and benefits of different patterns of reproduction, although it should also be of interest to senior undergraduates.

Diversity and Evolution of Land Plants provides a fresh and long overdue treatment of plant anatomy and morphology for the biology undergraduate of today. Setting aside the traditional plod through the plant taxa, the author adopts a problem-based functional approach, exploring plant diversity as a series of different solutions to the design problems facing plant life on land.

This monumental work by Dankmar Bosse presents, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the earth and its natural kingdoms, based primarily on geology and paleontology, and with reference to the work of Rudolf Steiner. Bosse explores many core questions of natural science, such as the relationship of humanity to the evolution of the animal kingdom, the origin of deep crystalline rocks, and the shaping of present-day landscapes. This is a fascinating exposition of the development of our natural world, and human beings, lavishly illustrated in colour. It is essential reading for anyone interested in how life on earth, and the earth itself, got to this point.

Playback is the technique of rebroadcasting natural or synthetic signals to animals and observing their response. The ability to present a putative signal in isolation, without the potential confounding effects of other activities of the signaller, is the main reason for the depth and range of our knowledge of communication systems. To date, playback of sound signals has predominated, but playback of electric signals and even video playback of visual signals suggests that playback will become just as prevalent in studies of communication in other sensory modalities. This book is one of the outcomes of a workshop on playback held at Thombridge Hall in the Peak District National Park, England during August 1991. There were two reasons for organising the workshop. First, the considerable and lively debate in the literature about the design and analysis of playback experiments -the pseudoreplication debate -was in danger of generating more heat than light. A workshop forum seemed the obvious place to clarify and, if possible, resolve the debate. Second, with the number of new playback and analysis techniques increasing rapidly, it seemed an opportune moment to discuss these techniques and to review some rapidly developing areas of interest in sound communication.

Contributors to this volume offer new research on extinction processes in birds, nest predation, and song systems, and describes a graphical model that helps predict the reproductive consequences of time allocation between the competing demands of guarding young birds and foraging for food. Current Ornithology is the only English-language publication currently devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics pertaining to all aspects of the biology of birds. Chapters fall under such diverse rubrics as ecology, evolution, behavior, phylogeny, behavioral ecology, anatomy and physiology, and conservation biology. All authors are leading authorities on their subjects, and each chapter is refereed by experts in the topics covered. Although all chapters focus primarily on birds, some topics, such as the social cognition of birds as compared to primates (Volume 13), have significant application to disciplines outside of ornithology. Current Ornithology aims to provide an accessible, up-to-date, accurate source of data and to contribute to conceptual generalization and unification across the biological sciences.

Marine Invertebrate Evolution in the Galapagos Islands MATTHEW J. JAMES 1. Perspective of This Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Directions for Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3. Plan of This Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1. Perspective of This Volume Charles Darwin brought the Galapagos Islands to the attention of zoologists, botanists, and geologists following the six-week visit of H. M. S. Beagle to the islands in 1835. Since then published research on the biota of the islands, partic ularly in multiauthored volumes, has focused on terrestrial plants and animals. The present volume is designed specifically to provide a summary of work on the marine invertebrate fauna. One deviation from that objective was the inclusion of a chapter on land snails, which proved to be a good choice because the phylum Mollusca is now covered more thoroughly in this volume than in any single previous scholarly work on the Galapagos. The academic bottom line with this book is to elucidate the evolutionary responses of shallow water, benthic marine invertebrates to the unique set of insular conditions that exist in the Galapagos Islands. The route taken to that objective has many paths including taxonomic revision, determining biogeo graphic affinities, and examining the ecological requirements of species. The information presented here is for some groups from the islands the first stage in a thorough process that can eventually lead to an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of these species."

This is a study of genetic mapping. The first six chapters address "molecular biology in a historical framework. . . . Mapping and various kinds ofmaps (genetic, physical, sequence) are discussed. . . . (Genetic disease), diagnosis, and therapy, constitute Chapter 8. Chapter 9 outlines the evolution of the sequencing plan as it grew out of a series of conferences. . . . Chapter 10 reviews the questions involving science policy and allocation of available funds among various sectors of the biomedical research establishment. Chapter 11 covers the relationship of genome sequencing to disease, ethical issues, and social implications of genomic knowledge (medical care, employment, and insurance issues)." (Choice)

The four volumes of Game Equilibrium Models present applications of non-cooperative game theory. Problems of strategic interaction arising in biology, economics, political science and the social sciences in general are treated in 42 papers on a wide variety of subjects. Internationally known authors with backgrounds in various disciplines have contributed original research. The reader finds innovative modelling combined with advanced methods of analysis. The four volumes are the outcome of a research year at the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the University of Bielefeld. The close interaction of an international interdisciplinary group of researchers has produced an unusual collection of remarkable results of great interes for everybody who wants to be informed on the scope, potential, and future direction of work in applied game theory. Volume I Evolution and Game Dynamics mainly deals with dynamic stability with respect to evolutionary processes. The book offers not only theoretical classification of the foundations of evolutionary game theory, but also exciting new biological applications. Volume II Methods, Morals and Markets contains areas of research which will attract the interest of economists, political scientists, mathematicians and philosophers. The papers deal with the methodology of analysis of games, game theoretic contributions to fundamental ethical questions facing societies and game-theoretic analyses of market environments. Volume III Strategic Bargaining contains ten papers on game equilibrium models of bargaining. All these contributions look at bargaining situations as non-cooperative games. General models of two-person and n-person bargaining areexplored. Volume IV Social and Political Interaction contains game equilibrium models focussing on social and political interaction within communities or states or between states, i.e. national and international social and political interaction. Specific aspects of those interactions are modelled as non-cooperative games and their equilibria are analysed.

Over the past several decades the field of Quaternary ecology has undergone a fundamental change in perspective. Paleoecologists, who were formerly con cerned with biostratigraphic questions, have increasingly begun to develop and test explicitly ecological hypotheses. Literature emphasizing the con tributions of paleoecology to contemporary issues in ecology is growing, but many of the key papers are published in journals not traditionally read by ecologists. The tendency toward increased specialization within ecology, along with the proliferation of new journals as publication outlets, increasingly makes it difficult to communicate effectively across sUbdisciplines within ecology. With this book, we hope to bridge the communication gap between Quaternary ecologists and other ecologists. In this book we do not attempt to cover the subject of Quaternary ecology in a traditional textbook presentation. Two comprehensive books, one contemporary text (Birks and Birks, 1980) and a handbook of techniques (Berglund, 1986) appropriate to various specialties within this field are available to the reader who is interested in the details of methods used in reconstructing past communities and ecosystems."

The increasing interest during recent years in vegetation history, long-term climatic changes and the development of biotic communities has resulted in a growth of the literature in this field and has provided an incentive for scientists to use palaeo-ecology concepts to clarify contemporary ecological issues. Quaternary ecology offers the perspective of time, in using "natural experiments of the past" to evaluate the responses of population, communities and ecosystems to climatic and environmental changes on a time scale extending back over the past two million years of the quaternary period. Examples from the palaeo-ecological literature demonstrate how quaternary ecology interfaces with other branches of ecology, including plant demography, ecological genetics, limnology and landscape ecology. The book provides an integrated overview of this interdisciplinary area. The authors examine the validity of space for time substitution in studies of plant succession, the individualistic nature of species migrations and invasions of pre-existing communities, the disassembly and reassembly of communities following major environmental change and the applications of quaternary ecology to predicting biotic responses to future global climatic change. By examining key ecological issues and controversies that can be approached fruitfully using palaeo-ecological methods, this book is intended to complement rather than replace traditional textbooks in ecology and palaeo-ecology.

This book is reflecting upon core theories in evolutionary biology - in a historical as well as contemporary context. It exposes the main areas of interest for discussion, but more importantly draws together hypotheses and future research directions. The Modern Synthesis (MS), sometimes referred to as Standard Evolutionary Theory (SET), in evolutionary biology has been well documented and discussed, but was also critically scrutinized over the last decade. Researchers from diverse disciplinary backgrounds have claimed that there is a need for an extension to that theory, and have called for an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES). The book starts with an introductory chapter that summarizes the main points of the EES claim and indicates where those points receive treatment later in the book. This introduction to the subjects can either serve as an initiation for readers new to the debate, or as a guide for those looking to pursue particular lines of enquiry. The following chapters are organized around historical perspectives, theoretical and philosophical approaches and the use of specific biological models to inspect core ideas. Both empirical and theoretical contributions have been included. The majority of chapters are addressing various aspects of the EES position, and reflecting upon the MS. Some of the chapters take historical perspectives, analyzing various details of the MS and EES claims. Others offer theoretical and philosophical analyses of the debate, or take contemporary findings in biology and discuss those findings and their possible theoretical interpretations. All of the chapters draw upon actual biology to make their points. This book is written by practicing biologists and behavioral biologists, historians and philosophers - many of them working in interdisciplinary fields. It is a valuable resource for historians and philosophers of biology as well as for biologists. Chapters 8, 20, 22 and 33 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Papers presented at the 20th meeting of the International Ornithological Congress held in New Zealand, December 1990 emphasizing New Zealand and the southern Pacific Ocean. Topics include: a summary of ornithological work in New Zealand, enemy recognition and response, parasitism and sexual selectio

Evolutionary Biology celebrates its Quarter-Century Anniversary! 'Evolutionary Biology occupies a unique and valuable place in the evolutionary literature...The editors are to be congratulated on their continuing ability to attract interesting articles.' --- The Journal of Evolutionary Biology

With more than two hundred species distributed across most of mainland Mexico, Central and South America, and islands in the Caribbean Sea, the Phyllostomidae bat family (American leaf-nosed bats) is one of the world's most diverse mammalian families in terms of its trophic, or feeding, diversity. From an insectivorous ancestry, extant species have evolved into several dietary classes, including blood-feeding, vertebrate carnivory, and the consumption of nectar, pollen, and fruit, in a period of about 30 million years. Phyllostomidae's plant-visiting species are responsible for pollinating more than five hundred species of neotropical shrubs, trees, vines, and epiphytes--many of which are economically and ecologically important--and they also disperse the seeds of at least another five-hundred plant species. Fruit-eating and seed-dispersing members of this family thus play a crucial role in the regeneration of neotropical forests, and the fruit eaters are among the most abundant mammals in these habitats. Coauthored by leading experts in the field and synthesizing the latest advances in molecular biology and ecological methods, Phyllostomid Bats is the first overview in more than forty years of the evolution of the many morphological, behavioral, physiological, and ecological adaptations in this family. Featuring abundant illustrations as well as details on the current conservation status of phyllostomid species, it is both a comprehensive reference for these ecologically vital creatures and a fascinating exploration of the evolutionary process of adaptive radiation.

These essays are primarily concerned with the character of ethological research in the context of conflicts between animal and human interests. Specifically, to what extent is the projection into animals of human feelings a useful means to understand animal behavior? Annotation copyright Book News,

Many multicellular animals do not require oxygen to live but respire anaerobically. Some of these have adapted to "hostile" environments, such as sulphide rich habitats, others live as parasites within host organisms, while others still can perhaps be said to look back on the early days of life on earth before anaerobic respiration had evolved. This comprehensive volume lays out detailed summaries of the strategies for anero- or anoxy-biosis employed by each major group of metazoan animals. It begins with a description of the physical chemistry of oxygen, followed by a dissertation on the perils - and opportunities - created for life by oxygen derived free radicals. It moves on to examine the geochronology of the accumulation of oxygen in the environment and to analyze the first explosive adaptive radiation of the Metazoa in the Ediacarian and early Cambrian. It then explores the biochemistry of sulphide dependent organisms and follows with a detailed account of the evolution of fumarate reductase, the enzyme system that makes anaerobiosis possible in many invertebrate phyla. After the survey of invertebrate phyla, there is a chapter concerned with the strategies adopted by various vertebrates for anoxybiotic survival, and one on the dependence of many vertebrates on anaerobic processes. The contributors are authorities from around the world. The approach to the subject is an evolutionary one, drawing from many fields in biology. This book should be of interest to parasitologists, comparative biochemists, evolutionary biologists, palaeontologists and geochemists.

During the last ZO years great progress has been achieved in our understanding of both earth history and vertebrate evolution. The result is that climatic/tectonic events in earth history can now be placed in a more precise and global time frame, that permit their evaluation as abiotic causal factors which might trigger extinction and dispersal events in vertebrate history. Great strides have also been made in genetics and cell biology, providing new insight into phylogenetic relationships among many vertebrates. These new data, along with data on chronologie resolution of earth history, provide tests of previous interpretations regarding ancestral-descendant relationships based solely on the fossil record. It is fitting and proper that a volume on European Neogene mammal chronology is produced at this time, to ensure that new interpretations of vertebrate evolution and chronology are based on the most accurate and current data. Vertebrate paleon tologists believe that the fossil record is the only secure data for measuring the actual course and tempo of vertebrate evolution. Knowledge of the fossil record must keep pace with advances in other areas of science so that inferences on vertebrate evolu tion are accurate and meaningful."

The scope of this book can be described best as a compilation of papers presented to an imaginary interdisciplinary conference on philosophical and material problems of biosocial evolution. The conference is espe- cially designed to discuss unifying theoretical approaches to pheno- mena of both increasing structural complexity ("natural self-organi- sation") and biosocial adaptation. Among the contributors to the confe- rence are mathematical system theoretists, philosophers of science, theoretical population biologists, and social scientists. The only diffe- rence to a real conference of this kind is that all contributions are deli- vered by one and the same author, who also tries to integrate them to some higher degree than can normally be attained in conference papers. Technically, this integration amounts to the embedding of the biobeha- vioural concepts of evolutionarily stable and unstable strategies into the framework of the structure and stability of hierarchical systems. When embarking on my work on philosophical and interdisciplinary problems of the life sciences about 6 years ago, I decided not to contri- bute to the obscurantist talk of - horribile dictu - "emergence" , "onto- logical reductionism" and the like contaminating the recent sociobio- logy debate. I rather found it a genuinely philosophical task to analyse this talk, and so I attempted to recast the relevant concepts and princip- les into a form allowing for definite conclusions. Among other things, which I hope the reader will find more pleasant, this attempt had some unfortunate effect, however.

Presents detailed discussions on the systematic, ecological, and evolutionary implications of the pollination of terrestrial orchids of Southern Australia and the Mediterranean; variation and diversity in deep-sea echinoids; the molecular evolution of the alcohol dehydrogenase genes in Drosophila;

The twelve papers consider: the origins of the study of mammalogy in North America; aspects of economic importance of mammals; ecology of mammals; anatomy and physiology of the anterior pituitary and endocrine hypothalamus and their interactions; evolution of mammalian behavior; evolution of mammals

The dicynodonts, an important group of permo-triassic reptiles, were the first really successful herbivorous tetrapods. Moreover they provided the bulk of the prey species for the ecosystem in which the mammals evolved, which makes them interesting in a wider context. The dicynodonts left an abundant fossil record, mainly in what is now southern and eastern Africa. This abundance enables investigation of their community structure and permits observations to be made on the changes in diversity that the group underwent throughout history. Such palaeoecological studies are becoming increasingly important since they have direct bearing on the evolution of other fossil groups. Their detailed preservation allows functional considerations to be derived from structure, providing evidence for discussion of reproduction, thermoregulation and social behaviour - all important aspects of the study of the evolution of mammals. These studies are summarized by a recognized expert in the field and should be valuable to those interested in evolution, palaeoecology and palaeobiology, as well as geologists and zoologists. This book should be of interest to evolutionary biologists, palaeoecologists, palaeobiologists, geologists and zoologists.

Carnivores have always fascinated us, even though they make up only 10% of all mammalian genera and only about 2% of all mammalian biomass. In Greek mythology most of the gods adorned their robes and helmets with depictions of carnivores, and the great hero Hercules' most famous feat was killing the "invulnerable" lion with his bare hands. Part* of our fascination with carnivores stems from fright and intrigue, and sometimes even hatred because of our direct competition with them. Cases of "man-eating" lions, bears, and wolves, as well as carnivores' reputation as killers of livestock and game, provoke communities and governrpents to adopt sweeping policies to exterminate them. Even President Theodore Roosevelt, proclaimer of a new wildlife protectionism, described the wolf as "the beast of waste and desolation. " The sheer presence and power of carnivores is daunt ing: they can move quickly yet silently through forests, attaining rapid bursts of speed when necessary; their massive muscles are aligned to deliver powerful attacks, their large canines and strong jaws rip open carcasses, and their scis sor-like carnassials slice meat. Partly because of our fear of these attributes, trophy hunting of carnivores has been, and to a certain extent still is, a sign of bravery and skill. Among some Alaskan Inuit, for example, a man is not eligible for marriage until he has killed a succession of animals of increasing size and dangerousness, culminating with the most menacing, the polar bear.

Evolution is one of the most important processes in life. It not only explains the detailed history of life on earth, but its scope also extends into many aspects of our own contemporary behavior-who we are and how we got to be here, our psychology, our cultures-and greatly impacts modern advancements in medicine and conservation biology. Perhaps its most important claim for science is its ability to provide an overarching framework that integrates the many life sciences into a single unified whole. Yet, evolution-evolutionary biology in particular-has been, and continues to be, regarded with suspicion by many. Understanding how and why evolution works, and what it can tell us, is perhaps the single most important contribution to the public perception of science. This book provides an overview of the basic theory and showcases how widely its consequences reverberate across the life sciences, the social sciences and even the humanities. In this book, Robin Dunbar uses examples drawn from plant life, animals and humans to illustrate these processes. Evolutionary science has important advantages. Most of science deals with the microscopic world that we cannot see and invariably have difficulty understanding, but evolution deals with the macro-world in which we live and move. That invariably makes it much easier for the lay audience to appreciate, understand and enjoy. Evolution: What Everyone Needs to Know (R) takes a broad approach to evolution, dealing both with the core theory itself and its impact on different aspects of the world we live in, from the iconic debates of the nineteenth century, to viruses and superbugs, to human evolution and behavior.