This book explores ways in which systematic patterns are used to infer evolutionary processes. Among evolutionary biologists and systematists there is a constant interchange between those that study the process of evolution (e.g., mutation, selection, speciation) and those that study its patterns (e.g., variation, geographic distribution, ontogeny, phylogeny). Because patterns influence the development of theories, and processes yield patterns, it is not always easy to distinguish one from another. This book is dialectic and helps crystallize a continuing debate over the relationship of...
This book explores ways in which systematic patterns are used to infer evolutionary processes. Among evolutionary biologists and systematists there is...
Evolutionary theory addresses the phenomenon of the origin and diversity of plant and animal species that we observe. In recent times, however, it has become a predominant ideology which has gained currency far beyond its original confines. Attempts to understand the origin and historical development of human culture, civilization and language, of the powers of human cognition, and even the origin of the moral and ethical values guiding and constraining everyday life in human societies are now cast in an evolutionary context. In "Evolutionary Theory and the Creation Controversy" the author...
Evolutionary theory addresses the phenomenon of the origin and diversity of plant and animal species that we observe. In recent times, however, it has...
Where do turtles hail from? Why and how did they acquire shells? These questions have spurred heated debate and intense research for more than two hundred years. Brilliantly weaving evidence from the latest paleontological discoveries with an accessible, incisive look at different theories of biological evolution and their proponents, Turtles as Hopeful Monsters tells the fascinating evolutionary story of the shelled reptiles. Paleontologist Olivier Rieppel traces the evolution of turtles from over 220 million years ago, examining closely the relationship of turtles to other reptiles and...
Where do turtles hail from? Why and how did they acquire shells? These questions have spurred heated debate and intense research for more than two ...
Phylogenetic Systematics: Haeckel to Hennig traces the development of phylogenetic systematics against the foil of idealistic morphology through 100 years of German biology. It starts with the iconic Ernst Haeckel the German Darwin from Jena and the evolutionary morphology he developed. It ends with Willi Hennig, the founder of modern phylogenetic systematics. Written in English, the book presents a unique perspective on a vast body of German biological literature.
The book also offers a perspective on German biology in the Third Reich. The author looks at how...
Phylogenetic Systematics: Haeckel to Hennig traces the development of phylogenetic systematics against the foil of idealistic morp...