1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910780279603321

Autore

Levinton Jeffrey S.

Titolo

Genetics, paleontology, and macroevolution / / Jeffrey S. Levinton [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2001

ISBN

1-107-12324-0

0-511-56133-4

0-511-15492-5

0-511-04793-2

0-511-61296-6

0-521-00550-7

Edizione

[Second edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xv, 617 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

576.8

Soggetti

Macroevolution

Genetics

Paleontology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 519-586) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface to the First Edition; Preface to the Second Edition; CHAPTER 1 Macroevolution: The Problem and the Field; CHAPTER 2 Genealogy, Systematics, and Macroevolution; CHAPTER 3 Genetics, Speciation, and Transspecific Evolution; CHAPTER 4 Development and Evolution; CHAPTER 5 The Constructional and Functional Aspects of Form; CHAPTER 6 Patterns of Morphological Change in Fossil Lineages; CHAPTER 7 Patterns of Diversity, Origination, and Extinction; CHAPTER 8 A Cambrian Explosion?; CHAPTER 9 Coda: Ten Theses; Glossary of Macroevolution

ReferencesAUTHOR INDEX; SUBJECT INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

An engaging area of biology for more than a century, the study of macroevolution continues to offer profound insight into our understanding of the tempo of evolution and of the evolution of biological diversity. What regulates biological diversity and its historical development? Can it be explained by natural selection alone? Has



geologic history regulated the tempo of diversification? This expanded and updated second edition offers a comprehensive look at macroevolution and its underpinnings, with a primary emphasis on animal evolution. From a Neodarwinian point of view, it integrates evolutionary processes at all levels to explain the diversity of animal life. It examines a wide range of topics including genetics and speciation, development and evolution, the constructional and functional aspects of form, fossil lineages, and systematics, and it takes a hard look at the Cambrian explosion. Researchers and graduate students will find this book a most comprehensive examination of macroevolution.