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New Approaches to Speciation in the Fossil Record

Author: Douglas H. Erwin

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 542

ISBN-13: 9780231082488

A collection of case studies that seeks to reexamine the understanding of the speciation patterns that appear in the fossil record through an analysis of the patterns and their presumed processes. In each case, the rigorous techniques of morphological analysis, quantitative genetic analysis, phylogenetic analysis, and sedimentary completeness have been employed.

Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record

Author: Warren D. Allmon

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-10-05

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 022637758X

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Although the species is one of the fundamental units of biological classification, there is remarkably little consensus among biologists about what defines a species, even within distinct sub-disciplines. The literature of paleobiology, in particular, is littered with qualifiers and cautions about applying the term to the fossil record or equating such species with those recognized among living organisms. In Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record, experts in the field examine how they conceive of species of fossil animals and consider the implications these different approaches have for thinking about species in the context of macroevolution. After outlining views of the Modern Synthesis of evolutionary disciplines and detailing the development within paleobiology of quantitative methods for documenting and analyzing variation within fossil assemblages, contributors explore the challenges of recognizing and defining species from fossil specimens—and offer potential solutions. Addressing both the tempo and mode of speciation over time, they show how with careful interpretation and a clear species concept, fossil species may be sufficiently robust for meaningful paleobiological analyses. Indeed, they demonstrate that the species concept, if more refined, could unearth a wealth of information about the interplay between species origins and extinctions, between local and global climate change, and greatly deepen our understanding of the evolution of life.

Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record

Author: Warren D. Allmon

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2016-10-05

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 022637744X

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The literature of paleobiology is brimming with qualifiers and cautions about using species in the fossil record, or equating such species with those recognized among living organisms. Species and Speciation in the Fossil Record digs through this literature and surveys the recent research on species in paleobiology. In these pages, experts in the field examine what they think species are - in their particular taxon of specialty or more generally in the fossil record. They also reflect on what the answers mean for thinking about species in macroevolution. The first step in this approach is an overview of the Modern Synthesis, and paleobiology’s development of quantitative ways of documenting and analyzing variation with fossil assemblages. Following that, this volume’s central chapters explore the challenges of recognizing and defining species from fossil specimens, and show how with careful interpretation and a clear species concept, fossil species may be sufficiently robust for meaningful paleobiological analyses. Tempo and mode of speciation over time are also explored, exhibiting how the concept of species, if more refined, can reveal enormous amounts about the interplay between species origins and extinction and local and global climate change.

Environmental Stress, Adaptation and Evolution

Author: K. Bijlsma

Publisher: Birkhäuser

Published: 2013-03-08

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 3034888821

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Most organisms and populations have to cope with hostile environments, threatening their existence. Their ability to respond phenotypically and genetically to these challenges and to evolve adaptive mechanisms is, therefore, crucial. The contributions to this book aim at understanding, from a evolutionary perspective, the impact of stress on biological systems. Scientists, applying different approaches spanning from the molecular and the protein level to individuals, populations and ecosystems, explore how organisms adapt to extreme environments, how stress changes genetic structure and affects life histories, how organisms cope with thermal stress through acclimation, and how environmental and genetic stress induce fluctuating asymmetry, shape selection pressure and cause extinction of populations. Finally, it discusses the role of stress in evolutionary change, from stress induced mutations and selection to speciation and evolution at the geological time scale. The book contains reviews and novel scientific results on the subject. It will be of interest to both researchers and graduate students and may serve as a text for graduate courses.

Comparing the Geological and Fossil Records

Author: Alistair McGowan

Publisher: Geological Society of London

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9781862393363

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The past decade has witnessed a major revival in attempts to separate biodiversity signals from biases imposed by sampling and the architecture of the rock record. How large a problem this poses to our understanding of biodiversity patterns remains debatable, and new approaches are being developed to investigate this question. Here palaeobiologists with widely differing approaches and interests explore the problems of extracting reliable information on biodiversity change from an imperfect geological record. Topics covered range from the application of information-theoretic approaches that identify directional causal relationships to an in-depth study of how geological biases could influence our understanding of dinosaur evolution.

Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record

Author: Michael J. Benton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-04-25

Total Pages: 1001

ISBN-13: 1118685407

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This book presents a comprehensive overview of the science of the history of life. Paleobiologists bring many analytical tools to bear in interpreting the fossil record and the book introduces the latest techniques, from multivariate investigations of biogeography and biostratigraphy to engineering analysis of dinosaur skulls, and from homeobox genes to cladistics. All the well-known fossil groups are included, including microfossils and invertebrates, but an important feature is the thorough coverage of plants, vertebrates and trace fossils together with discussion of the origins of both life and the metazoans. All key related subjects are introduced, such as systematics, ecology, evolution and development, stratigraphy and their roles in understanding where life came from and how it evolved and diversified. Unique features of the book are the numerous case studies from current research that lead students to the primary literature, analytical and mathematical explanations and tools, together with associated problem sets and practical schedules for instructors and students. “..any serious student of geology who does not pick this book off the shelf will be putting themselves at a huge disadvantage. The material may be complex, but the text is extremely accessible and well organized, and the book ought to be essential reading for palaeontologists at undergraduate, postgraduate and more advanced levels—both in Britain as well as in North America.” Falcon-Lang, H., Proc. Geol. Assoc. 2010 “...this is an excellent introduction to palaeontology in general. It is well structured, accessibly written and pleasantly informative .....I would recommend this as a standard reference text to all my students without hesitation.” David Norman Geol Mag 2010 Companion website This book includes a companion website at: www.blackwellpublishing.com/paleobiology The website includes: · An ongoing database of additional Practical’s prepared by the authors · Figures from the text for downloading · Useful links for each chapter · Updates from the authors

EVOLUTION

Author: Michael Ruse

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-01-01

Total Pages: 992

ISBN-13: 0674062213

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Spanning evolutionary science from its inception to its latest findings, from discoveries and data to philosophy and history, this book is the most complete, authoritative, and inviting one-volume introduction to evolutionary biology available. Clear, informative, and comprehensive in scope, Evolution opens with a series of major essays dealing with the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology, with major empirical and theoretical questions in the science, from speciation to adaptation, from paleontology to evolutionary development (evo devo), and concluding with essays on the social and political significance of evolutionary biology today. A second encyclopedic section travels the spectrum of topics in evolution with concise, informative, and accessible entries on individuals from Aristotle and Linneaus to Louis Leakey and Jean Lamarck; from T. H. Huxley and E. O. Wilson to Joseph Felsenstein and Motoo Kimura; and on subjects from altruism and amphibians to evolutionary psychology and Piltdown Man to the Scopes trial and social Darwinism. Readers will find the latest word on the history and philosophy of evolution, the nuances of the science itself, and the intricate interplay among evolutionary study, religion, philosophy, and society. Appearing at the beginning of the Darwin Year of 2009Ñthe 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of SpeciesÑthis volume is a fitting tribute to the science Darwin set in motion.

Modeling Extinction

Author: Mark E. J. Newman

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 0195159462

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Preface. 1. Extinction in the Fossil Record. 2. Fitness Landscape Model. 3. Self-Organized Critical Models. 4. Interspecies Connection Models. 5. Environmental Stress Models. 6. Non-equilibrium Models. 7. Summary. References. Index.

The Adaptive Landscape in Evolutionary Biology

Author: Erik Svensson

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2012-05-17

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0191631671

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The 'Adaptive Landscape' has been a central concept in population genetics and evolutionary biology since this powerful metaphor was first formulated by Sewall Wright in 1932. Eighty years later, it has become a central framework in evolutionary quantitative genetics, selection studies in natural populations, and in studies of ecological speciation and adaptive radiations. Recently, the simple concept of adaptive landscapes in two dimensions (genes or traits) has been criticized and several new and more sophisticated versions of the original adaptive landscape evolutionary model have been developed in response. No published volume has yet critically discussed the past, present state, and future prospect of the adaptive landscape in evolutionary biology. This volume brings together prominent historians of science, philosophers, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists, with the aim of discussing the state of the art of the Adaptive Landscape from several different perspectives.

Stephen Jay Gould

Author: Robert Ross

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0195373200

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Considered by many during his lifetime as the most well-known scientist in the world, Stephen Jay Gould left an enormous and influential body of work. A Harvard professor of paleontology, evolutionary biology, and the history of science, Gould provided major insights into our understanding of the history of life. He helped to reinvigorate paleontology, launch macroevolution on a new course, and provide a context in which the biological developmental stages of an organism's embryonic growth could be integrated into an understanding of evolution. This book is a set of reflections on the many areas of Gould's intellectual life by the people who knew and understood him best: former students and prominent close collaborators. Mostly a critical assessment of his legacy, the chapters are not technical contributions but rather offer a combination of intellectual bibliography, personal memoir, and reflection on Gould's diverse scientific achievements. The work includes the most complete bibliography of his writings to date and offers a multi-dimensional view of Gould's life-work not to be found in any other volume.