Shrews, Chromosomes and Speciation

About this book

The chromosome complement (karyotype) often differs between related mammalian species (including humans v. chimpanzees), such that evolutionary biologists muse whether chromosomal difference is a cause or a consequence of speciation. The common shrew is an excellent model to investigate this problem because of its many geographical races (potential species) differing chromosomally, and its several sibling species (recently speciated forms) that are also chromosomally different. This system is an exceptional opportunity to investigate the role of chromosomes in speciation and Shrews, Chromosomes and Speciation reflects detailed research following these approaches. Highlights include the demonstration that chromosomal rearrangements can be associated with complete loss of gene flow and thus speciation and that selection within species hybrid zones may lead to de-speciation rather than speciation. Shrews, Chromosomes and Speciation represents an extraordinarily detailed consideration of the role of chromosomes in speciation in one astonishing species, providing insights to those interested in mammalian diversity, chromosomal evolution and speciation.

Contents

1. Milestones in common shrew chromosomal research / Jan Zima and Jeremy B. Searle
2. Introducing the common shrew / Nikolay A. Shchipanov, Jan Zima and Sara Churchfield
3. Morphology and genetics of the common shrew: general features / Alina Mishta and Jeremy B. Searle
4. Phylogeography / Fríða Jóhannesdóttir, Andrew J. Thompson, Rodrigo Vega, Jeremy S. Herman, Thomas A. White, Marja Heikkinen, Anna A. Bannikova and Jeremy B. Searle
5. Chromosomal differentiation in the common shrew and related species / Nina S. Bulatova, Larisa S. Biltueva, Svetlana V. Pavlova, Natalia S. Zhdanova and Jan Zima
6. Phylogenetic relationships of chromosomal races / Thomas A. White, Jan M. Wojcik and Jeremy B. Searle
7. Meiosis and fertility associated with chromosomal heterozygosity / Pavel M. Borodin, Stanislaw Fedyk, Wlodzimierz Chetnicki, Anna A. Torgasheva, Svetlana V. Pavlova and Jeremy B. Searle
8. Chromosomal hybrid zones / Stanislaw Fedyk, Svetlana V. Pavlova, Wlodzimierz Chetnicki and Jeremy B. Searle
9. Gene flow between chromosomal races and species / Glenn Yannic, Patrick Basset, Agnès Horn and Jacques Hausser
10. Geometric morphometric tests for phenotypic divergence between chromosomal races / P. David Polly and Jan M. Wojcik
11. Is it really the chromosomes? / Patrick Basset, Glenn Yannic and Jacques Hausser
12. Further divergence: the role of ecology and behaviour / Boris I. Sheftel, Natalia V. Moraleva and Jacques Hausser
13. Climate, diversification and refugia in the common shrew: evidence from the fossil record / P. David Polly
14. Shrews, chromosomes and speciation / Jeremy B. Searle, Jan Zima and P. David Polly

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Biography

Jeremy B. Searle is a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, USA. He has studied the evolutionary biology of small mammals, including research into colonisation history, speciation and chromosomal evolution. His PhD was on the chromosomes of common shrew and he founded a series of meeting that met regularly for 21 years and stimulated much of the work in this book.

P. David Polly is a vertebrate palaeontologist at Indiana University in Bloomington. He studies the evolution of mammals and other vertebrates in the fossil record, including trait-based studies of community response to environmental change, geometric morphometric analysis of evolution and morphology, phylogenetics, biogeography, and speciation on regional and continental geographic scales.

Jan Zima is a Senior Scientist at the Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno and Professor of Zoology at the Department of Zoology, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He has studied chromosomal variation in various species of mammals and other vertebrates, and has attempted to imply cytogenetic findings to biodiversity, systematic and phylogenetic issues.


Contributors:
- Jan Zima
- Jeremy B. Searle
- Nikolay A. Shchipanov
- Sara Churchfield
- Alina Mishta
- Fríða Jóhannesdóttir
- Andrew J. Thompson
- Rodrigo Vega
- Jeremy S. Herman
- Thomas A. White
- Marja Heikkinen
- Anna A. Bannikova
- Nina S. Bulatova
- Larisa S. Biltueva
- Svetlana V. Pavlova
- Natalia S. Zhdanova
- Jan M. Wojcik
- Pavel M. Borodin
- Stanislaw Fedyk
- Wlodzimierz Chetnicki
- Anna A. Torgasheva
- Glenn Yannic
- Patrick Basset
- Agnès Horn
- Jacques Hausser
- P. David Polly
- Boris I. Sheftel
- Natalia V. Moraleva