Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Life Sciences - Evolution

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are eukaryotic organelles that evolved from bacterial ancestors and harbor their own genomes. The gene products of these genomes work in concert with those of the nuclear genome to ensure proper organelle metabolism and biogenesis.

This book explores the forces that have shaped the evolution of organelle genomes and the expression of the genes encoded by them. Some striking examples of trends in organelle evolution explored here are the reduction in genome size and gene coding content observed in most lineages, the complete loss of organelle DNA in...

The annual Evolutionary Biology Meetings in Marseilles serve to gather leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists using evolutionary biology concepts, e.g. for medical research. The aims of these meetings are to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations.

This book collects 19 selected contributions presented at the 15^th meeting, which took place in September 2011. It starts with a description of the life and work of J.B.S. Haldane, a remarkable evolutionary biologist of the 20^th century. The remaining...

Primate Craniofacial Function and Biology is an integrative volume with broad coverage of current research on primate craniofacial biology and function. Topic headings include: the mammalian perspective on primate craniofacial form and function, allometric and comparative morphological studies of primate heads, in vivo research on primate mastication, modeling of the primate masticatory apparatus, primate dental form and function, and palaeoanthropologic studies of primate skulls.

Additionally, the volume includes introductory chapters discussing how primatologists study adaptations...

It has long been recognized that plants and animals profoundly affect one another's characteristics during the course of evolution. However, the importance of coevolution as a dynamic process involving such diverse factors as chemical communication, population structure and dynamics, energetics, and the evolution, structure, and functioning of ecosystems has been widely recognized for a comparatively short time. Coevolution represents a point of view about the structure of nature that only began to be fully explored in the late twentieth century. The papers presented here herald its...

From the vast reaches of our known universe to the smallest, single-celled microorganism, Fernando Orrego escorts us on an extraordinary journey through space and time. Building on Charles Darwin's work, Orrego uses natural philosophy to clearly explain the reactions that started in interstellar space and continued in the solar system and in the Earths atmosphere and surface, leading to the emergence of the first living cells.

An exploration in two parts, the journey begins with solid scientific evidence to reconstruct the solar system's humble beginnings in dust, gas, and...

A small set of fossilized bones discovered almost thirty years ago led paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee on a lifelong quest to understand their place in our understanding of the history of life. They were clearly the bones of something unusual, a bird-like creature that lived long, long ago in the age of dinosaurs. He called it Protoavis, and the animal that owned these bones quickly became a contender for the title of -oldest known bird.- In 1997, Chatterjee published his findings in the first edition of The Rise of Birds.

Since then Chatterjee and his colleagues...

Since 1997, scientists of different disciplines sharing a deep interest in concepts and knowledge related to evolutionary biology have held the annual Evolutionary Biology Meetings in Marseille in order to discuss their research and promote collaboration. Lately scientists especially focusing on applications have also joined the group.

This book starts with the report of the "12^th Evolutionary Biology Meeting," which gives a general idea of the meeting's epistemological stance. This is followed by 22 chapters, a selection of the most representative contributions, which...