Understanding Evolution

Understanding Evolution
Author: Kostas Kampourakis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2014-04-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1107034914

Bringing together conceptual obstacles and core concepts of evolutionary theory, this book presents evolution as straightforward and intuitive.

Gene Sharing and Evolution

Gene Sharing and Evolution
Author: Joram Piatigorsky
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2007-02-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780674023413

In Gene Sharing and Evolution Piatigorsky explores the generality and implications of gene sharing throughout evolution and argues that most if not all proteins perform a variety of functions in the same and in different species, and that this is a fundamental necessity for evolution.

Icons of Evolution

Icons of Evolution
Author: Jonathan Wells
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 159698533X

Everything you were taught about evolution is wrong.

Coalescent Theory

Coalescent Theory
Author: John Wakely
Publisher: Roberts
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-04-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780974707754

This textbook provides the foundation for molecular population genetics and genomics. It shows the conceptual framework for studies of DNA sequence variation within species, and is the source of essential tools for making inferences about mutation, recombination, population structure and natural selection from DNA sequence data.

Classification and Human Evolution

Classification and Human Evolution
Author: Sherwood L. Washburn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 667
Release: 2017-07-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351528033

The names given to the variety of man-like fossils known to scientists should reflect no more than scientific views of the nature of human evolution. However, often in the past these names have also reflected confusion regarding the basic principles of scientific nomenclature; and the matter has been further complicated by the many new finds of recent decades. It is the unique purpose of this book to clarify the present state of knowledge regarding the main lines of human evolution by expressing what is known (and what is surmised) about them in appropriate taxonomic language.The papers in this volume were prepared by the world's leading authorities on the subject, and were revised in the light of discussions at a remarkable conference held in Austria in 1962 under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. The authors review first the meaning of taxonomic statements as such, and then consider the substance of our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors. They also examine the relationship of behavior changes and selection pressures in evolutionary sequences.Ample illustrations, bibliographies and an index enhance the permanent reference value of the book, which will undoubtedly prove to be among the fundamental paleoanthropological works of our time.

Organisms, Agency, and Evolution

Organisms, Agency, and Evolution
Author: D. M. Walsh
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2015-11-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107122104

This book argues that evolution arises from the activities of organisms as agents, not from the replication of genes.

Evolution of the Human Diet

Evolution of the Human Diet
Author: Peter S. Ungar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2007
Genre: Health & Fitness
ISBN: 0195183460

We are interested in the evolution of hominin diets for several reasons. One is the fundamental concern over our present-day eating habits and the consequences of our societal choices, such as obesity prevalent in some cultures and starvation in others. Another is that humans have learned to feed themselves in extremely varied environments, and these adaptations, which are fundamentally different from those of our closest biological relatives, have to have had historical roots of varying depth. The third, and the reason why most paleoanthropologists are interested in this question, is that a species' trophic level and feeding adaptations can have a strong effect on body size, locomotion, "life history strategies", geographic range, habitat choice, and social behavior. Diet is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of our distant ancestors and their kin, the early hominins. A study of the range of foods eaten by our progenitors underscores just how unhealthy many of our diets are today. This volume brings together authorities from disparate fields to offer new insights into the diets of our ancestors. Paleontologists, archaeologists, primatologists, nutritionists and other researchers all contribute pieces to the puzzle. This volume has at its core four main sections: · Reconstructed diets based on hominin fossils--tooth size, shape, structure, wear, and chemistry, mandibular biomechanics · Archaeological evidence of subsistence--stone tools and modified bones · Models of early hominin diets based on the diets of living primates--both human and non-human, paleoecology, and energetics · Nutritional analyses and their implications for evolutionary medicine New techniques for gleaning information from fossil teeth, bones, and stone tools, new theories stemming from studies of paleoecology, and new models coming from analogy with modern humans and other primates all contribute to our understanding. When these approaches are brought together, they offer an impressive glimpse into the lives of our distant ancestors. The contributions in this volume explore the frontiers of our knowledge in each of these disciplines as they address the knowns, the unknowns, and the unknowables of the evolution of hominin diets.