Evolution Since Darwin The First 150 Years

About this book

Evolution since Darwin: The First 150 Years comprises 22 chapters and eight shorter commentaries that emerged from a symposium held in November 2009 at Stony Brook University, USA. Thirty-nine authors from 22 universities and two museums in five countries write on areas of evolutionary biology and related topics on which their research focuses. Their essays cover the history of evolutionary biology, populations, genes and genomes, evolution of form, adaptation and speciation, diversification and phylogeny, paleobiology, human cultural and biological evolution, and applied evolution. The volume summarizes progress in major areas of research in evolutionary biology since Darwin, reviewing the current state of knowledge and active research in those areas, and looking toward the future of the broader field.

Contents

PART I: EVOLUTION SINCE DARWIN Evolutionary Biology: 150 Years of Progress; D.J.Futuyma Rethinking Darwin's Position in the History of Science; P.J.Bowler Commentary 1: Where Are We? Historical Reflections on Evolutionary Biology in the Twentieth Century; V.B.Smocovitis
PART II: POPULATION, GENES, AND GENOMES The Concepts of 'Population' and 'Metapopulation' in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology; R.L.Millstein Evolutionary Genetics: Progresses and Challenges; J.G.Zhang Natural Selection and Coalescent Theory; J.Wakeley On the Power of Comparative Genomics: Does Conservation Imply Function?; B.Kolaczkowski & A.D.Kern Commentary 2: The Potential for Microorganisms and Experimental Studies in Evolutionary Biology; D.E.Dykhuizen PART III: THE EVOLUTION OF FORM Limits on Rates of Adaptation: Why Is Darwin's Machine So Slow?; M.Kirkpatrick Evolvability: The Missing Piece of the Neo-Darwinian Synthesis; G.P.Wagner Embryos and Evolution: 150 Years of Reciprocal Illumination; G.A.Wray
PART IV: ADAPTATION AND SPECIATION Tradeoffs and Negative Correlations in Evolutionary Ecology; A.Agrawal, J.K.Conner & S.Rasmann Elucidating Evolutionary Mechanisms in Plant--Insect Interactions: Key Residues as Key Innovations; M.Berenbaum & M.A.Schuler Behavioral Ecology: The Natural History of Evolutionary Theory; H.Kokko & M.D.Jennions Understanding the Origin of Species: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Going?; R.G.Harrison Commentary 3: The Role of Ecology in Evolutionary Biology; M.A.McPeek
PART V: DIVERSITY AND THE TREE OF LIFE The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Did It All Start in Darwin's Warm Little Pond?; A.Lazcano Commentary 4: The Genomic Imprint of Endosymbiosis; C.E.Lane Adaptive Radiation: The Interaction of Ecological Opportunity, Adaptation, and Speciation; J.B.Losos & D.L.Mahler Phylogenetic Progress and Applications of the Tree of Life; D.M.Hillis Paleontological Perspectives on Morphological Change; P.J.Wagner The Geological History of Biodiversity; M.Foote Commentary 5: Thinking about Diversity and Diversification: What If Biotic History Is Not Equilibrial?; J.Cracraft
PART VI: HUMAN EVOLUTION Hominid Paleobiology: How Has Darwin Done?; T.D.White Darwin on the Role of Culture in Human Evolution; P.J.Richerson & R.Boyd
PART VII: APPLICATIONS OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY Applying Evolutionary Biology: From Retrospective Analysis to Direct Manipulation; F.Gould Commentary 6: A Clade's-Eye View of Global Climate Change; C.C.Davis, E.J.Edwards & M.J.Donoghue PART VIII: PROSPECTS Evolutionary Biology: The Next 150 Years; H.E.Hoekstra Commentary 7: Towards a More Richly Integrated Biology; C.Marshall Commentary 8: Balance between Organismal and Molecular Training; J.Rest

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Biography

The editors are members of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, USA. Among them, they have more than 150 years of experience in evolutionary biology. MICHAEL A. BELL studies the evolution of stickleback fish, ranging from molecules to fossils, and he co-edited The Evolutionary Biology of the Threespine Stickleback. DOUGLAS J. FUTUYMA is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and author of the textbooks Evolutionary Biology and Evolution. He studies coevolution of insects and plants. WALTER F. EANES studies the molecular and population genetics of Drosophila and is interested in the interface of metabolism and life history adaptation. JEFFREY S. LEVINTON has a long interest in macroevolution, and wrote Genetics, Paleontology, and Macroevolution. He also studies the ecology and evolution of marine and aquatic invertebrates and has authored the textbook Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology and co-edited The Hudson River Estuary.