Genetics, paleontology, and macroevolution

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, the book integrates evolutionary processes at all levels to explain the diversity of animal life. It examines a wide range of topics including genetics, speciation, development, evolution, constructional and functional aspects of form, fossil lineages, and systematics, and --in a major new chapter--takes a hard look at the Cambrian explosion. The author delves into the age of molecular science and integrates important recent contributions made to our understanding of evolution. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Preface to the First Edition......Page 11 Preface to the Second Edition......Page 15 The Process and the Field of Macroevolution......Page 19 Definition of the Process of Macroevolution......Page 20 The Scope of Macroevolution......Page 21 The Role of Type in Evolutionary Concepts......Page 31 Macroevolution and the Fall of Goldschmidt......Page 37 Goldschmidt’s Useful Developmental Approach......Page 40 Macroevolution and Paleontology......Page 42 The Main Points......Page 48 Systematics and Macroevolutionary Hypotheses......Page 50 Advantages of the Genealogical Approach......Page 53 Constructing an Evolutionary Tree: A Cladistic Approach......Page 55 Cladograms and phylogenies......Page 61 Homoplasy: the fundamental problem......Page 64 Phenetics......Page 73 Molecular Approaches to Genealogy Construction......Page 77 Direct nucleotide sequences......Page 78 General Features and Problems in Tree Construction......Page 82 The Evolutionist–Phylogeneticist Conflict and Classification......Page 83 The Value of the Fossil Record......Page 87 The Main Points......Page 96 Why Worry about Species?......Page 99 Speciation: Process and Product......Page 103 Intraspecific Variation......Page 105 The genetic transition in speciation......Page 119 Intraspecific and interspecific chromosomal variation......Page 121 The models......Page 137 Transspecific Stasis......Page 158 Are New Species Accidents or Adaptations?......Page 159 The Species Selection Model......Page 164 The Main Points......Page 173 Constraint and Saltation......Page 175 The Holy Grail: Connecting an Understanding of Genes and Development......Page 176 Phylogeneticists and Developmentalists......Page 178 The Nature of Gene Activation in Development......Page 180 Gene function, development, and evolutionary change......Page 190 Switching on Developmental Events......Page 194 Organization, Compartmentalization, and Restriction in Development......Page 198 Morphological Gradients, Units, and Discontinuities......Page 209 Development, Genes, and Selection: The Evolutionary Ratchet......Page 216 Critique of the ratchet theory......Page 220 Developmental Organization and Macromutations......Page 224 Change of Developmental Programs: Heterochrony and Joint Responses......Page 233 The Main Points......Page 243 CHAPTER 5 The Constructional and Functional Aspects of Form......Page 245 Performance of Organisms and Adaptation......Page 246 Optimality: The Direction Adaptation Takes?......Page 253 The Study of Form......Page 283 Allometry and developmental constraint......Page 287 Other approaches to the comparisons of forms......Page 294 The Main Points......Page 301 The Taxic Approach to Measuring Evolutionary Rates......Page 303 The Stratigraphic Record: How Much Do We Have?......Page 304 What Is The Rate of Evolution in Fossil Lineages?......Page 310 Phenotypes, Genetic Variation, and Phenotypic Evolution......Page 319 Variation of the Rate of Evolution......Page 325 Testing for Punctuated Equilibrium......Page 329 Stasis......Page 352 Phyletic Gradualism: The Making of a Straw Man......Page 361 The Assembly of a Complex Bauplan......Page 370 The Main Points......Page 383 Introduction......Page 385 The Quality of the Data......Page 387 The Overall Pattern......Page 395 Taxon Longevity and Lyellian Curves......Page 401 Stochastic Models of Appearance and Taxon Longevity......Page 407 Regulation of Diversity......Page 409 Biogeography, Provinciality, Diversity, and Diversification......Page 418 Extinction and Mass Extinction......Page 428 The Main Points......Page 459 Introduction......Page 461 Origins of the Problem......Page 462 The Early Cambrian Is Established as the Cornucopia of Animal Life......Page 466 The Ediacaran Challenge......Page 469 The Burgess Shale and Charles D. Walcott......Page 471 The Cambrian Diversity Trap......Page 475 Higher Categories Come First......Page 477 “Oddballs from the Cambrian Start to Get Even”......Page 478 Precambrian Whisperings of the Rise of Animal Life?......Page 487 Precambrian Fossils Reconsidered......Page 498 So Why Not More, Where Are They, and Where Did They Come From?......Page 502 And Did They Come Only Once?......Page 505 What Was the Cambrian Explosion, and What Did Cause It?......Page 507 The Main Points......Page 511 I. The Stabilization of Form......Page 513 II. No Evidence for the Sudden and Nearly Simultaneous Rise of Basic Body Plans......Page 515 IV. Adaptive Evolution Has Centrifugal and Centripetal Components......Page 517 V.The Fossil Record Is Readily Extrapolated from Population Variation, Genetic Determination, and Natural Selection; No.........Page 519 VI. Saltation Is a Nonproblem in Evolution......Page 521 VII. Character Evolution is Strongly Affected by Organismic Integration and Compartmentalization......Page 524 VIII. We Still Do Not Understand the Beginning, or What Controls the Rate of the Beginning......Page 525 IX. The Hierarchical Structure of Life Eludes Us as A Successful Framework within Which to Discover Evolutionary Change and.........Page 526 X. The Unexpected Will Overwhelm Our Preconceived Notions......Page 527 Glossary of Macroevolution......Page 529 References......Page 537 AUTHOR INDEX......Page 605 SUBJECT INDEX......Page 623 "An engaging area of biology for more then a century, the study of macroevolution continues to offer profound insight into our understanding of the tempo of evolution and the evolution of biological diversity. In seeking to unravel the patterns and processes that regulate large-scale evolutionary change, the study of macroevolution asks: What regulates biological diversity and its historical development? Can it be explained by natural selection alone? Has geologic history regulated the tempo of diversification? The answers to such questions lie in many disciplines including genetics, paleontology, and geology." "This expanded and updated second edition offers a comprehensive look at macroevolution and its underpinnings, with a primary emphasis on animal evolution. From a neo-Darwinian 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. This book also takes a hard look at the Cambrian explosion. This new edition possesses all of the comprehensiveness of the first edition, yet ushers it into the age of molecular approaches to evolution and development. It also integrated important recent contributions made to our understanding of the early evolution of animal life. Researchers and graduate students will find this insightful book a most comprehensive and up-to-date examination of macroevolution."--BOOK JACKET 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.