Renowned researchers summarize the current knowledge on ammonoid paleobiology. The book begins with a description of the systematic position of the Ammonoidea within the Cephalopoda, providing the phylogenetic framework for the rest of the book. Following discussions include soft- and hard-part morphology of ammonoids, rate of growth and ontogeny, and taphonomy and ecology. Closing chapters explore the distribution of ammonoids in time and space as well as their extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. With its diverse viewpoints and new material, this resource will benefit researchers and graduate students in paleontology, marine biology, and evolutionary biology.

This is the only English-language publication devoted exclusively to extensive reviews and synthesis of topics on the biology of birds. The current volume includes articles on sibling competition, predation and the limitation of bird numbers, and population trends in birds of eastern North America.

This volume was created initially from a symposium of the same name presented at the International Primatological Society's XVIII Congress in Adelaide. South Australia. 6-12 January 2000. Many of the authors who have contributed to this text could not attend the symposium. so this has become another vehicle for the rapidly growing discipline of Fragmentation Science among primatologists. Fragmentation has quickly become a field separate from general ecology. which underscores the severity of the situation since we as a planet are rapidly losing habitat of all types to human disturbance. Getting ecologists. particularly primatologists. to admit that they study in fragments is not easy. In the field of primatology. one studies many things. but rarely do those things (genetics. behavior. population dynamics) get called out as studies in fragmentation. For some reason "fragmentation primatologists" fear that our work is somehow "not as good" as those who study in continuous habitat. We worry that perhaps our subjects are not demonstrating as robust behaviors as they "should" given fragmented or disturbed habitat conditions. I had a colleague openly state that she did not work in fragmented forests. that she merely studied behavior when it was clear that her study sites. everyone of them. was isolated habitat. Our desire to be just another link in the data chain for wild primates is so strong that it makes us deny what kinds of habitats we are working in. However.

This text is intended for an introductory course in bio metabolism concludes with photosynthesis. The last sec chemistry. While such a course draws students from vari tion of the book, Part IV, TRANSFER OF GENETIC INFOR ous curricula, all students are presumed to have had at MATION, also opens with an introductory chapter and then least general chemistry and one semester of organic chem explores the expression of genetic information. Replica istry. tion, transcription, and translation are covered in this or My main goal in writing this book was to provide stu der. To allow for varying student backgrounds and for pos sible needed refreshers, a number of topics are included as dents with a basic body of biochemical knowledge and a thorough exposition of fundamental biochemical con four appendixes. These cover acid-base calculations, principles of cepts, including full definitions of key terms. My aim has of organic chemistry, tools biochemistry, and been to present this material in a reasonably balanced oxidation-reduction reactions. form by neither deluging central topics with excessive de Each chapter includes a summary, a list of selected tail nor slighting secondary topics by extreme brevity. readings, and a comprehensive study section that consists Every author of an introductory text struggles with of three types of review questions and a large number of the problem of what to include in the coverage. My guide problems.

This volume is an up-to-date treatise of chemosensory vertebrate research performed by over 200 scientists from 22 countries. Importantly, data from over 25 taxa of vertebrates are presented, including those from human beings. Unlike other volumes on this topic, a significant nurober of the contributions come from leading workers in the former Soviet Union and reflect studies within a wide variety of disciplines, including behavior, biochemistry, ecology, endocrinology, genetics, psychophysics, and morphol ogy. Most of the studies described in this volume were presented at the Chemical Signals in Vertbrates VI (CSV VI) symposium held at the University of Pennsylvania in the summer of 1991. This international symposium was the largest and the most recent of a series of six such symposia, the first of which was held in Saratoga Springe, New York (June 6-9, 1976) and the last in Oxford, England (August 8-10, 1988). Unlike the previous symposia, Chemical Signals in Vertabrates VI lasted a full week, reflecting the increased number of participants and the desire of many to present their research findings orally to the group as a whole."

This volume contains a contemporary, integrated description of the processes of language. These range from fast scales (fractions of a second) to slow ones (over a million years). The contributors, all experts in their fields, address language in the brain, production of sentences and dialogues, language learning, transmission and evolutionary processes that happen over centuries or millenia, the relation between language and genes, the origins of language, self-organization, and language competition and death. The book as a whole will help to show how processes at different scales affect each other, thus presenting language as a dynamic, complex and profoundly human phenomenon.

More than two thirds of all living organisms described to date belong to the phylum Arthropoda. But their diversity, as measured in terms of species number, is also accompanied by an amazing disparity in terms of body form, developmental processes, and adaptations to every inhabitable place on Earth, from the deepest marine abysses to the earth surface and the air. The Arthropoda also include one of the most fashionable and extensively studied of all model organisms, the fruit-fly, whose name is not only linked forever to Mendelian and population genetics, but has more recently come back to centre stage as one of the most important and more extensively investigated models in developmental genetics. This approach has completely changed our appreciation of some of the most characteristic traits of arthropods as are the origin and evolution of segments, their regional and individual specialization, and the origin and evolution of the appendages. At approximately the same time as developmental genetics was eventually turning into the major agent in the birth of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), molecular phylogenetics was challenging the traditional views on arthropod phylogeny, including the relationships among the four major groups: insects, crustaceans, myriapods, and chelicerates. In the meantime, palaeontology was revealing an amazing number of extinct forms that on the one side have contributed to a radical revisitation of arthropod phylogeny, but on the other have provided evidence of a previously unexpected disparity of arthropod and arthropod-like forms that often challenge a clear-cut delimitation of the phylum.

This volume provides a detailed description of a wide range of numerical, statistical or modeling techniques and novel instrumentation separated into individual chapters written by paleontologists with expertise in the given methodology. Each chapter outlines the strengths and limitations of specific numerical or technological approaches, and ultimately applies the chosen method to a real fossil dataset or sample type. A unifying theme throughout the book is the evaluation of fossils during the prologue and epilogue of one of the most exciting events in Earth History: the Cambrian radiation.

Since the Western world first became aware of the existence of Neanderthals, this Pleistocene human has been a regular focus of interest among specialists and also among the general public. In fact, we know far more about Neanderthals than we do about any other extinct human population. Furthermore, over the past 150 years no other palaeospecies has been such a constant source of discussion and fierce debate among palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists. This book presents the status of our knowledge as well as the methods and techniques used to study this extinct population and it suggests perspectives for future research.

Many of the papers in this volume were first presented at the Third International Great Apes of the World Conference, held July 3-6, 1998 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The editors of this volume, the first in a two-volume series, are world renowned, having dedicated most of their lives to the study of great apes. The world's premiere primatologists, ethologists, and anthropologists present the most recent research on both captive and free-ranging African great apes. These scientists, through deep personal commitment and sacrifice, have expanded their knowledge of chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. With forests disappearing, many of these studies will never be duplicated. This volume, and all in the Developments in Primatology book series, aim to broaden and deepen the understanding of this valuable cause.

Plant based biotechnology has come to represent a means of mitigating the problems of global food security in the twenty-first century. Products and processes in agriculture are increasingly becoming linked to science and cutting edge technology, to enable the engineering of what are in effect, designer plants. One of the most successful , non-chemical approaches to pest management and disease control is biological control, which seeks a solution in terms of using living organisms to regulate the incidence of pests and pathogens, providing a natural control' while still maintaining the biological balance with the ecosystem. This volume, (the first of two), addresses the different types of biocontrol for different pests, namely, crop diseases, weeds and nematodes, and details the biology of both the pest and its enemies, which is vital for efficient use of biological control. The book has numerous contributors who are authorities in their fields, and would be an asset to those who have interest in sustainable agriculture and crop productivity.

Nearly, 50 years ago, Karl Pribram in a discussion section accompanying MacLean's proposal of a limbic system, criticized the visceral or limbic brain concept as theoretically too vague and cumbersome. In a recent review of the limbic system, Swanson points to Brodal's criticism that the discovery of connections of limbic structures with virtually all parts of the nervous system render the concept of the limbic system useless, and better abandoned. Additional dissatisfaction surrounding the limbic brain concept stems from the feeling that it is historically inert (an antiquated 19th century construct). In our current age of neural networks, and parallel distributed process it is of little value, merely an historical curio. So why then this int- duction to limbic brain anatomy? We offer several interrelated rationales behind our labors. Recapitulation in the Service of Education: Although concepts had evolved in the second half of this century which effectively overthrew the idea of relatively isolated hemispheric districts (i. e. striatal, cortical, and limbic), parsing the hemisphere into these three districts was an important preliminary step achieved by our forebears in their efforts to understand the large scale structure of the higher mammalian cerebral hemisphere. An examination of how the limbic brain concept came to be provides an opp- tunity to recapitulate the process of exploration, discovery, and und- standing as it relates to one of these principle hemispheric domains.

It is with pleasure that the editors dedicate this volume to William Camp bell Steere, one of the founding editors of Evolutionary Biology. As Dr. Steere approaches his eightieth birthday we include in the volume a brief biography and a complete bibliography of his publications in celebration of his contributions to the biological sciences. The Editors Ix Contents 1. William Campbell Steere: An Outline of His Life and Continuing Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 William R. Buck Bibliography of Publications of William Campbell Steere 5 2. Biochemical Systematics: II. A Reprise ....... . . . . . . . .. . . 25 David E. Giannasi and Daniel J. Crawford Introduction ........................................ 25 Micromolecules ..................................... 28 Flavonoids ....................................... 28 Terpenoids ....................................... 49 Alkaloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 83 . . . . . . . . . Other Micromolecules of Chemosystematic Interest .. . . . . .. . 92 Micromolecules of Specific Plant Groups ................. 96 Lichens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 104 . . . . . . . . . . New Approaches in Micromolecular Chemosystematics ...... 112 C Metabolism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 118 . . . . . . . . 4 Paleobiochemistry .................................. 120 Micromolecules: Biological and Evolutionary Considerations ................................. 127 Macromolecules ..................................... 132 Electrophoresis .................................... 133 Amino Acid Sequences .............................. 155 Serology ......................................... 167 Nucleic Acids ..................................... 182 Conclusions and Future Prospects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 209 . . . . Micromolecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 209 . . . . . . . . Macromolecules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 211 . . . . . . . . References ......................................... 213 xl xii Contents 3. Species Selection As a Causal Process ......... . . . . . . .. . . 249 Norman L. Gilinsky Introduction ........................................ 249 Differential Rates of Extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 251 . . . . . Differential Rates of Speciation: General Problems ........... 252 Differential Rates of Speciation: A Case for Reducibility ....... 254 Differential Rates of Speciation: A Case for Irreducibility Speciation via the Founder Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 257 . . . Discussion ......................................... 262 Possible Examples of Species Selection: Hawaiian Drosophilidae ............................ 262 Possible Examples of Species Selection: Tertiary Neogastropoda ............................ 263 The Snail Example: Another Viewpoint ..... . . . . . . . . .. . . 267 . Species Selection and Randomness ..................... 268 Species Selection and Punctuated Equilibria . . . . . . . . . .. . . 269 . ."

Among birds, shorebirds provide some of the more unique opportunities to examine basic problems in behavior, ecology, and evolution. This is in large measure due to the diversity, both behaviorally and ecologically, of a group closely related taxonomically and distributed throughout the world. The overall aim of these two volumes is to provide a representative selection of current research being conducted on shorebird behavior and ecology. Traditionally, marine birds have included those species that breed in large colonies on offshore islands along coasts (see Volume 4 of this series). Although shorebirds have generally not been considered within this group, the fact that almost 40% of the species breed along coasts and more than 60% often or always spend the nonbreeding season in coastal habitats more than justifies their inclusion as marine birds (at least those species that totally or partially depend upon the marine environment). Their inclusion markedly increases species diversity in marine birds since shorebirds add about 217 species to the 280 that are traditionally thought of as marine.

The study ofanthropoid origins continues to be a lightning rod for research in paleoanthropology. Issuessurrounding anthropoid origins impact the higher leveltaxonomy ofprimates, adaptivescenariosfor basalprimate radiations, and the timing of origination of the major primate clades. Basic questions about anthropoid evolution remain unanswered. Where do anthropoids fit phyloge- netically among primates? Where and when did the group originate? What functional and adaptive innovations characterize anthropoids today and what is the adaptive significanceand phylogenetic history ofthese innovations? The fossil record of early anthropoid evolution has greatly improved in recent years. Developments in systematictechniques and theory, as well as the burgeoning molecular evidence, make this an ideal time for these fossil discoveries to be placed in the context of data on the relationships among living primates. There isan improved understandingoffunction and adaptation in the visual system, brain, and masticatory apparatus, key anatomical systems where anthropoid synapomorphies are concentrated. New methods for estimating visualacuity and activitypatterns in fossil primates are providing insights into the evolution ofthe visualsystem. The rapid accumulation ofinformation on color vision in primates, including new genetic evidence of possible trichro- macyin strepsirrhines, and new behavioraldata on the benefitsofcolor vision, makes this an exciting time to evaluate the role of chromatic perception in anthropoid evolution. Research into the primate visualsystem by neuroscien- tists has generated a plethoraofimportant data in recent years, making this an ideal time to bring these researchers together with anthropologists.

How did life originate on Earth? For over 50 years, scientists believed that life was the result of a chemical reaction involving simple molecules such as methane and ammonia cooking in a primordial soup. Recent space observations have revealed that old stars are capable of making very complex organic compounds. At some point in their evolution, stars eject those organics and spread them all over the Milky Way galaxy. There is evidence that these organic dust particles actually reached the early Solar System. Through bombardments by comets and asteroids, the young Earth inherited significant amounts of stardust. Was the development of life assisted by the arrival of these extraterrestrial materials? In this book, the author describes stunning discoveries in astronomy and solar system science made over the last 10 years that have yielded a new perspective on the origin of life. Other interesting topics discussed in this book The discovery of diamonds and other gemstones in space The origin of oil Neon signs and fluorescent lights in space Smoke from the stars Stardust in our hands Where oceans come from The possibility of bacteria in space

This book focuses on sensing and the evolution of animals. Using the five senses (visual, auditory, and olfactory perception, and taste and touch), animals can receive environmental stimuli and respond to them. Changes in these sensitivities might cause changes in aspects of animals lives such as habitat, activity timing, and diet and vice versa. Recent advances in genome and molecular analysis enable us to investigate certain changes in the receptors or mechanisms involved in sensing and provide clues for understanding the evolution of animals related to those changes. The first chapter deals with the molecular evolution of opsins. In addition to the well-known function of opsins as visual receptors, opsins can be related to non-visual photoreception such as photoentrainment of circadian rhythm, photoperiodism, and background adaptation. Molecular phylogenic studies reveal that all opsin genes have evolved from one ancient opsin gene. The evaluation of the functions of each extant opsin protein based on the molecular features enables us to predict the molecular evolution and diversification of opsins during the evolution of animals. These studies shed light on which amino-acid substitutions cause the functional diversification of opsins and how they have influenced the evolution of animals. The second chapter has to do with bitter taste perception, a key detection mechanism against the ingestion of bioactive substances. Genetic and behavioral evidence reveal the existence of "non-taster" Japanese macaques for specific bitter compounds, which originated in a restricted region of Japan. This finding might provide a clue for elucidating the ecological, evolutionary, and neurobiological aspects of bitter taste perception of primates. The third chapter presents an extreme example of the evolution of olfaction, namely, that fully aquatic amniotes have generally reduced their olfactory capacity considerably compared to their terrestrial relatives. Interestingly, the remaining olfactory abilities are quite different among three fully aquatic amniotes investigated: toothed whales have no nervous system structures that mediate olfaction, but baleen whales can smell in air, and it has been suggested that sea snakes smell underwater."

Rough-and-tumble play provided one of the paradigmatic examples of the appli- tion of ethological methods, back in the 1970's. Since then, a modest number of - searchers have developed our knowledge of this kind of activity, using a variety of methods, and addressing some quite fundamental questions about age changes, sex diff- ences, nature and function of behaviour. In this chapter I will review work on this topic, mentioning particularly the interest in comparing results from different informants and different methods of investigation. Briefly, rough-and-tumble play (or R&T for short) refers to a cluster of behaviours whose core is rough but playful wrestling and tumbling on the ground; and whose general characteristic is that the behaviours seem to be agonistic but in a non-serious, playful c- text. The varieties of R&T, and the detailed differences between rough-and-tumble play and real fighting, will be discussed later. 2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF RESEARCH ON R&T In his pioneering work on human play, Groos (1901) described many kinds of rough-and-tumble play. However, R&T was virtually an ignored topic from then until the late 1960's. There was, of course, a flowering of observational research on children in the 1920s and 1930s, especially in North America; but this research had a strong practical o- entation, and lacked the cross-species perspective and evolutionary orientation present in Groos' work.

This book covers the hot topics of angiosperm structure and evolution in several chapters discussing vegetative and reproductive characters. It also looks at the implications of ancestral angiosperm characters for an herbaceous origin and the phylogeny of angiosperms from a structure and molecular perspective.

In the past several years, DNA microarray technology has attracted tremendous interest in both the scientific community and in industry. With its ability to simultaneously measure the activity and interactions of thousands of genes, this modern technology promises unprecedented new insights into mechanisms of living systems. Currently, the primary applications of microarrays include gene discovery, disease diagnosis and prognosis, drug discovery (pharmacogenomics), and toxicological research (toxicogenomics). Typical scientific tasks addressed by microarray experiments include the identification of coexpressed genes, discovery of sample or gene groups with similar expression patterns, identification of genes whose expression patterns are highly differentiating with respect to a set of discerned biological entities (e.g., tumor types), and the study of gene activity patterns under various stress conditions (e.g., chemical treatment). More recently, the discovery, modeling, and simulation of regulatory gene networks, and the mapping of expression data to metabolic pathways and chromosome locations have been added to the list of scientific tasks that are being tackled by microarray technology. Each scientific task corresponds to one or more so-called data analysis tasks. Different types of scientific questions require different sets of data analytical techniques. Broadly speaking, there are two classes of elementary data analysis tasks, predictive modeling and pattern-detection. Predictive modeling tasks are concerned with learning a classification or estimation function, whereas pattern-detection methods screen the available data for interesting, previously unknown regularities or relationships.

Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution introduces biologists to DAMBE, a proprietary, user-friendly computer program for molecular data analysis. The unique combination of this book and software will allow biologists not only to understand the rationale behind a variety of computational tools in molecular biology and evolution, but also to gain instant access to these tools for use in their laboratories. Data Analysis in Molecular Biology and Evolution serves as an excellent resource for advanced level undergraduates or graduates as well as for professionals working in the field.

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. "

Gastrulation is a fundamental process of early embryonic development. It involves virtually every aspect of cell and developmental biology and results in the formation of fundamental structural elements around which a developing animal's body plan is organized. As such it is not only an important process, but also one that is complicated and not easily dissected into its component parts. To understand the mechanisms of gastrulation one must acknowledge that gastrulation is fundamentally a biomechanical process (that is, a problem of cells generating forces in a three dimensional array, patterned in space and time such that appropriate tissue movements are executed). Three intertwined questions emerge: what cell activities generate forces, how are these cell activities patterned in space and time, and how are the resulting forces harnessed in three dimensional domains? To address these issues it is important to define and characterize regional cell behaviors and to learn how they are patterned in the egg and/ or by subsequent cell and tissue interactions. At the biochemical level, what are the cellular and extracellular molecules that control cell behavior? Finally, how are specific patterns of cellular activity integrated to produce tissue behavior? The task of answering the above questions, an immense task in itself, is compounded by the fact that the morphogenetic movements of gastrulation and their underlying mechanisms vary between different organisms.

The first and so far only Plant Geography of Chile was written about 100 years ago, since when many things have changed: plants have been renamed and reclassified; taxonomy and systematics have experienced deep changes as have biology, geography, and biogeography. The time is therefore ripe for a new look at Chile's plants and their distribution. Focusing on three key issues - botany/systematics, geography and biogeographical analysis - this book presents a thoroughly updated synthesis both of Chilean plant geography and of the different approaches to studying it. Because of its range - from the neotropics to the temperate sub-Antarctic - Chile's flora provides a critical insight into evolutionary patterns, particularly in relation to the distribution along the latitudinal profiles and the global geographical relationships of the country's genera. The consequences of these relations for the evolution of the Chilean Flora are discussed. This book will provide a valuable resource for both graduate students and researchers in botany, plant taxonomy and systematics, biogeography, evolutionary biology and plant conservation.