Description
Book SynopsisPrinciples of Evolution covers all aspects of the subject. Following an introductory section that provides necessary background, it has chapters on the evidence for evolution that cover the fossil record, DNA-sequence homologies, and protein homologies (evo-devo). It also includes a full history of life from the first universal common ancestor, through the rise of the eukaryote and on to the major groups of phyla. This section is followed by one on the mechanism of evolution with chapters on variation, selection and speciation. The main part of the book ends with a chapter on human evolution and this is followed by appendices that expand on the making of fossils, the history of the subject and creationism.
What marks this book as different from others on evolution is its systems-biology perspective. This new area focuses on the role of protein networks and on multi-level complexity, and is used in three contexts. First, most biological activity is driven by such netwo
Table of Contents
SECTION 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO EVOLUTION
1. Approaching Evolution
2. A Potted History of Evolutionary Science
3. Life Today: Species, Diversity, and Classification
SECTION 2: THE EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION
4. The Fossil Record
5. Darwinian Descent With Modification: Evolutionary Taxonomy and Cladistics
6. The Anatomical Evidence for Vertebrate Evolution: From Fish to Birds
7. The Anatomical Evidence for Vertebrate Evolution: Mammals
8. The Genomic Evidence for Evolution
9. The First Three Billion Years of Life: From the First Universal Common Ancestor to the Last Eukaryote Common Ancestor and Beyond
10. Evo-devo 1: Embryos
11. Evo-devo 2: The Evidence From Functional Homologies
SECTION 3: THE MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION
12. Variation 1: Populations and Genes
13. Variation 2: Clades and Networks
14. Adaptation, Fitness, and Selection
15. Speciation
16. Human Evolution
17. Conclusions
APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Systems Biology
Appendix 2. A History of Evolutionary Thought
Appendix 3. Rocks, Dates, and Fossils
Appendix 4. Evolution Versus Creationism
