DESCRIPTION:
Published in March 2013, Evolution, Third Edition is a comprehensive treatment of contemporary evolutionary biology that is directed toward an undergraduate audience. It addresses major themes_including the history of evolution, evolutionary processes, adaptation, and evolution as an explanatory framework_at levels of biological organization ranging from genomes to ecological communities. Throughout, the text emphasizes the interplay between theory and empirical tests of hypotheses, thus acquainting students with the process of science. Teachers and students will find the list of important concepts and terms in each chapter a helpful guide, and will appreciate the dynamic figures and lively photographs. The content of all chapters has been updated.
New in This Edition:
- Greatly revised treatment of methods of phylogenetic analysis
- Up-to-date coverage of human evolution, based on the fossil record and genomic variation
- Reorganized treatment of the history of changes in biological diversity, integrating information from paleontology and phylogenetics
- Coverage of important new developments in sexual selection and the evolutionary advantage of sex
- Updated and expanded coverage of reinforcement in speciation, and of speciation with gene flow
- Extensive updating of very recent advances in evolutionary genomics
- Roughly 25% of the figures are new
- The bibliography includes 460 new citations (of approximately 1,700)
CONTENTS:
1. Evolutionary Biology
Added example of hypothetico-deductive method (prediction and verification) in evolutionary biology
2. The Tree of Life: Classification and Phylogeny
Revised, updated discussion of statistical methods of phylogenetic analysis
New box describing additional phylogenetic methods
Updated discussion of incomplete lineage sorting
New section on applications and extensions of phylogenetics
3. Patterns of Evolution
New material on molecular convergence
Updated discussion of comparative genome sizes and numbers of genes in genome
4. Evolution in the Fossil Record
Updated material on feathered dinosaurs and the origin of birds
Updated information about the Hominin fossil record, new genomic data, and human origins
5. A History of Life on Earth
Updated references and information on (among other things):
The origin of life/earliest life
Laboratory evolution of RNA mixtures
The evolution of multicellularity
Comparative genetics of choanoflagellates and animals
Age of animal phyla
The evolution of angiosperms
Phylogeny of vertebrate groups
Early mammalian diversity
Causes of Pleistocene megafaunal extinction
6. The Geography of Evolution
A description of new methods of historical biogeographic analysis
Updated discussion of historical biogeography in Hawaii and Southern hemisphere
New material on the spread of Homo sapiens beyond Africa (including admixture of Neanderthal and Denisovan genes)
7. The Evolution of Biodiversity
Extensive reorganization and better integration of topics
Improved integration of paleontological and phylogenetic approaches to estimating clade diversity through time
Updated material on patterns of temporal change in clade diversity
Updated discussion of diversity-dependent diversification
New section on why some kinds of organisms are more diverse
Updated and expanded section on adaptive radiation
8. The Origin of Genetic Variation
Updated discussion of effects of regulatory mutations
New material on molecular causes of pleiotropy
Updated material on fitness effects of mutation in noncoding regions of the genome, and on the frequency of neutral and nonneutral mutations
New description of epistatic mutations
9. Variation: The Foundation of Evolution
New section on nongenetic inherited variation
Recast material on linkage disequilibrium
Updated references on patterns of human genetic variation, in relation to notions of "race"
10. Genetic Drift: Evolution at Random
Expanded introduction to random processes in evolution
Updated material on reduced variation caused by population bottlenecks
McDonald-Kreitman test for selection moved to Chapter 12
New, updated section on molecular clocks
Rewritten and updated material on the origin of modern Homo sapiens, human effective population size, and genetic correlates of explosive population growth
11. Natural Selection and Adaptation
Added discussion of selection sorting in both time and space
New material on effective environment depending on species
Expanded treatment of testing hypotheses of adaptation by experiments
Material on adaptive evolution moved to this chapter and expanded
New section on adaptation to global warming
12. The Genetic Theory of Natural Selection
Updated examples of gene flow vs. selection, the effect of gene flow on local adaptation, and frequency-dependent selection
Updated treatment of a classic example: industrial melanism in the peppered moth
New material on detecting selection from geographic variation
Expanded treatment of tests and evidence for selection in DNA sequence data
Updated treatment of selection in the human genome
New section dealing with adaptation based on new vs. standing variation
13. Phenotypic Evolution
Substantial rewriting and shortening of some sections
Updated material on QTL for human traits
New treatment of directional selection in contemporary human populations
New treatment of evolution of phenotypic plasticity
Updates on genetic constraints, modularity, and evolution of pleiotropy
New section on whether adaptation can rescue species from extinction
14. The Evolution of Life Histories
Rewritten section on age schedules of reproduction
Section on "Life Histories and Mating Strategies" moved to this chapter from Chapter 15
15. Sex and Reproductive Success
Updated material on the costs of sex, clonal interference, sex and parasites
Treatment of the newest models of the advantage of sex and recombination (separating advantageous alleles from disadvantageous alleles elsewhere in the genome)
Reorganized material on the evolution of mate choice
New sections on reversed and mutual sexual selection, and on the effects of sexual selection on adaptation
Updated treatment of sexual conflict
16. Conflict and Cooperation
Reorganized discussion of social interactions and cooperation
Expanded material on the direct benefits of cooperation
New section on the evolution of spite
Updated and reorganized sections on social insects and on kin selection vs. group selection
Expanded treatment of evolutionary approaches to human behavior
17. Species
Expanded treatment of phylogenetic species concepts
Updated discussion of ecological isolation, hybrid inviability, and the genetics of behavioral isolation
Expanded treatment of genetic incompatibility based on duplicate genes
Revised section on genetic divergence and exchange
18. Speciation
Expanded section on evidence for allopatric speciation
Updated discussion of ecological speciation
Revised material on reinforcement of reproductive isolation
Expanded treatments of sexual selection and speciation and of peripatric speciation
Revised section on sympatric speciation new material on genomic studies of speciation with gene flow
19. The Evolution of Interactions among Species
Revised section on aposematism and mimicry
Expanded and reorganized section on parasite-host interactions and infectious disease (includes updated treatment of the evolution of virulence, the molecular basis of host resistance, and evolution and epidemics)
Revised material on evolution of competitive interactions
New section on evolution and community structure
20. Evolution of Genes and Genomes
Contributed by Scott V. Edwards
New section on diverse players and processes in genomes
New information on the fraction of the genome that is functional
Updated discussion of nonadaptive processes in genome evolution
Discussion of developmental processes and rates of protein evolution
Updated treatment of the role of noncoding regions in the evolution of humans
Discussion of what newly sequenced genomes reveal about major events in the history of life
Revised material on molecular convergence as evidence for natural selection
21. Evolution and Development
Contributed by John R. True
Updated coverage of the evolutionary developmental biology of flower development
New material on the evolutionary developmental biology of flower symmetry
Updated section on genome-level and pathway perspectives of developmental evolution
Updated discussions of protein sequence changes in regulatory and morphological evolution
New perspectives on macroevolution and the role of developmental arrest in morphological evolution
New material on the integration of ecological developmental biology
22. Macroevolution: Evolution above the Species Level
Updated treatment of stasis, gradualism and saltation, and the evolution of complex characteristics
New material on developmental biology and complexity
Revised section on evolvability
New section on predictability and contingency in evolution
23. Evolutionary Science, Creationism, and Society
Updated discussion of evolution in relation to health and medicine
New material on evolutionary approaches to pest management
